Jack Ryan : Shadow Recruit

It all started way back in 1990 when Alec Baldwin essayed the role of Commander Dr. John Patrick Ryan aka Jack (because Tom Clancy felt he was a Jack of almost everything) in Clancy’s Hunt for Red October.  People remember that one more for Captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) than for Ryan.  That anomaly was rectified when Hollywood’s most bankable star (read Harrison Ford) took over the role in the next 2 movies.   Ben Affleck wasn’t too bad as the young Ryan.

Kenneth Branagh’s version catapults Ryan to a time frame about 30+ years into the future i.e. the current day – 2014.  However, Branagh does well to retain the essence of everything Jack Ryan.  The cast is good – Chris Pine is actually very composed and pulls off the character of Ryan (with a dash of action) quite well.  So Ryan is a genius brain but because he is in the current day, he has to be able to fight better – very logical Mr. Branagh.  I like.

Titled initially as Moscow, JRSR begins with Ryan as a student @ The London School of Economics and 9/11 happens.  Wanting to make a difference, Ryan joins the Army and in a couple of years, finds himself in Afghanistan as a Lieutenant.  That doesn’t last too long because his chopper is bought down.  Ryan is badly hurt but saves all passengers. During rehabilitation spread over nearly a year, he meets Catherine (Keira Knightley) and eventually his mentor, Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner).

A decade later, Ryan is now working for the CIA as a key member of the financial espionage team under Harper.  He is married to Catherine and is under strict instruction to keep his true assignment under wraps by posing as a Compliance Head.  The excitement actually begins only when he stumbles across several high value transactions from Cheverin corporation that lead to a carefully planned economic terrorist attack on the United States spearheaded by Viktor Cheverin (Kenneth Branagh).

JRSR is an extremely fast movie.  So fast that it is probably its biggest weakness.  In his enthusiasm to probably get close to Paul Greengrass and the levels set by the Bourne series, Branagh gives his viewers barely any time to register what is happening.  If you are a seasoned espionage movie goer, you may just about succeed in keeping pace.  If not, you may not get half the incidents that whizz past your face.

While the topic of economic terrorism is fresh and executed well overall, there are places where you are left with many questions. Like how did Ryan turn into a computer genius or how did he actually get himself out of the crashed helicopter.  The eventual result is a 105 minute whirlwind.  For once I am going to say that a movie was not edited well enough because it could have done with 15 minutes more to cover some essential points.  Keep your eyes and ears glued to the screen for this one.  6.5 on 10.  Worth watching.

Watch the trailer on http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1685301273/?ref_=tt_ov_vi