A reboot of a beloved character that has become obscure
I'll be honest in saying that I have no idea who Jack Ryan is. I know who Tom Clancy is, but that's because of the various video games I played. So when I learned that Chris Pine is going to be taking the role of Jack Ryan, I started wondering just who is this character? Well for one thing, it did lead me to watch now my all time favorite film: The Hunt for Red October. Which is funny because my long time favorite film has been 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I guess I just have a thing for submarine movies. Come my surprise that the character of Jack Ryan in the film played by a young Alec Baldwin comes off as more of a supporting character to Sean Connery's Cpt. Ramius. I'm not denying that Ryan is a main player in the film, yet what has been listed as the best Jack Ryan film doesn't seem to have Ryan as the star. So then comes my further investigation in finding out that only when Harrison Ford took over as Jack Ryan did he really become a central figure to the plot. So now I have some knowledge of this character. He's a CIA analyst who apparently will go on to become The President one day. So how does the reboot and Chris Pine fair against their predecessors?
The Plot
CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) discovers a plot by the Russians to completely crash the U.S. Economy with a terrorist plot. After being activated by his handler Harper (Kevin Costner), Ryan gets thrown in to the shadow wars of the CIA in Moscow to confront Russian Tycoon Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh/also director). However when his fiancé Dr. Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley) discovers his other life, the game to retain the U.S. Economy gets more complicated.
Analysis
I never really understood using normal names as movie titles. Originally this film was just simply titled Jack Ryan. Which to people who would know who that is would be either thrilled or displeased that a new Jack Ryan movie is coming. But for the majority of movie going audiences, no one will know what that is. When John Carter was made as the final title to Disney's adaptation of the legendary sci-fi novel, A Princess of Mars, I knew immediately people are not going to be interested. Just from the title alone, it is a generic name which equals a generic title. It doesn't tell the audience anything about the movie or gives a hint at what it could be about. The title Jack Ryan is like that also in that unless one read about Tom Clancy or knew about the character beforehand, the average audience member will not know who or what this movie is about.
Now there is the case of Tom Cruise's film Jack Reacher doing well despite the fact that outside of the literary buffs who know the name and the fact that Reacher is suppose to be a giant, no one knows who Jack Reacher is. Yet the film had a star power draw in order to get people to watch it: Tom Cruise. Both Jack Ryan and John Carter don't possess such star power for their leads. While John Carter suffers the syndrome of being based on the original space opera only to become a movie 100 years later when so many other movies had improved on its premise, Jack Ryan is a film that does not suffer that sort of syndrome. It suffers from something else. Being safe.
Review
Its a shame that despite being an incredible lead in the Star Trek films by J.J. Abrams, Chris Pine can't seem to have the audience draw that people would believe he would have. His portrayal of Jack Ryan at the beginning of his career as a CIA analyst was a fine one. An okay performance that doesn't really show the Ryan that fans are used to till the third act. However movie goers who don't know who he is will not see that special transition that he makes in how his portrayal mirrors Baldwin or Fords performances as the character in his prime. I believe that Pine deserves to be a star, and that the Jack Ryan character would've been a great way to show he's not just Cpt. Kirk 2.0. Unfortunately the script given is not really enough to make him stand out. And that is a recurring theme I'd like to give for this review. Everyone is just...fine.
Kiera Knightley does fine as Dr. Muller. Kevin Costner does fine as Agent Harper, who honestly seems more like the Jack Ryan fans know more so than Chris Pine. Whether that was done on purpose to give Ryan someone to be influenced by, I'm not sure. But even director Kenneth Branagh as the villain Cherevin was just okay. I was a huge fan of Branagh's rendition of Hamlet, which he also starred in. In there he gives a powerful performance along with incredible direction. I was even a huge fan of his take on Thor which he didn't star in but got incredible performances from his actors. In this film, I didn't see the same flair of direction from Thor or the same acting in Hamlet. It could be argued that Branagh only excels in Shakespeare related properties, with Thor being Marvel's strange equivalent to Shakespeare. However in here it just seems like a typical thriller that was shot like a standard blockbuster without anything to elevate it. It was just fine. Nothing spectacular.
It is a real shame too because everyone involved with this film could've made it incredible. However I would probably have to direct most of the blame towards the script. The story was just standard and while there have been stories like this told before, some of those stories are capable of elevating themselves above the rest. This one doesn't. It just plays by the numbers and plays it safe. It is a safe thriller. The film is also promoted as an action film akin to the Bourne franchise. While it is clear that there is that influence, it doesn't have the same amount of intensity in the drama or the action. I especially did not like the first 10 minutes of the film before the title sequence appears. It was edited like a quick condensed prologue that doesn't have much to do with the story other than how Ryan and Muller meet. Which again, has nothing to do with the story.
Final Thoughts
I really like the cast and I really like the director. That doesn't stop me from seeing that this is just an okay film. It is not a bad film, but it will definitely feel bad for people who have seen this type of movie over and over again. It is just too safe in a time when reboots are about making bold changes.
SCORE: 6.5/10 - There is some enjoyment from the film, but not enough to call it incredible.
No comments:
Post a Comment