Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a perfectly average thriller

One of things I’ve noted over the years is that there are some jobs that just seem “cooler” and more interesting than others, at least how they’re portrayed in the movies. At first, war movies portrayed all war as heroic and just, with perfect soldiers … at least for a while. Policeman too are portrayed both with complexity and simplicity, as heroes or villains. Ad executives, wedding planners, of course, certainly not blue collar or white collar workers, of course!

But perhaps no job was as cool as the spy. It pulled together so many old school elements, fighting evil, being more competent than regular people, knowing secrets no one else does, and just seeming glamorous and dangerous. But as James Bond grew, so did James Bond fall. In the era of rendition and Zero Dark Thirty, not even spywork can be considered sacrosanct. The movies have gotten in on the game, with movies such as the most recent Mission Impossible showing corruption even at the highest levels. But although movies about spies are certainly far from done, is the spy caper over? Can we still get invested in the light but vaguely serious movie of covert action anymore? Or have we grown up?

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is based on books by author Tom Clancy, which have been made into other Jack Ryan movies, including ones with Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck. This one is the first not to be explicitly based on a book, and it’s hard to say if that’s why the plot seems so listless. The movie presents an origin story for Jack; a genius intellect getting his PhD when the September 11th attacks happen, in a cringe inducing scene that thankfully doesn’t last too long. So Jack joins the Marines, saves some lives, gets severely injured and sent to Walter Reed for rehab. This allows us to introduce something that has no effect on the second half of the film, as Jack recovers 100% with no ill effects later on.

But it does allow us to introduce the lovely Keira Knightley, playing a love interest with an American accent and a name so generic it’s probably something like “Cathy.” Oh, it is Cathy? Huh. Before you can say “character development is for suckers,” the two are already together and ready for adventure. Jack has been recruited into the CIA by Kevin Costner’s Thomas Harper, doing what I can only describe as “surprisingly good acting.” But then it’s off to Moscow, as apparently the sinister Viktor Cherevin(Kenneth Branagh, who also directed the movie) is involved in a plot to ruin the US and rule the world or something. It was interesting how the movie had absolutely no qualms painting Russia as just the bad guys, completely and totally. Refreshing, if odd.

Branagh has enormous fun here, chewing the scenery at times with his silly Russian accent, although at times he merely acts over the top in a subtle way, if that makes any sense at all. The movie feels weird, trying (and failing) to present an interesting mystery/spy plot but then tossing in some very generic action movie silliness near the end. There is this plot of financial mischief which is not fully fleshed out and just sort of exposited in the manner of “this will be bad for the US, because it will be.” Not that scintillating. Chris Pine isn’t terrible or anything, but he doesn’t really grab attention other than a sort of “attempted pathos” good looking guy.

The romance angle, of course, is the worst part of the movie, which is a bit of an issue, as it drives much of the second act’s action beats. And it was weird how Kenneth Branagh gave his own character more depth than you’d expect for what’s basically a Bond villain in terms of how it’s written. Keira Knightley is fine, just fine, as a boring maiden in distress, with urgency in literally just one scene. But bizarrely enough, it was Kevin Costner that carried this movie, showing off an intriguing older character who’s patriotic but measured, competent but not superhuman. I think the movie would’ve been better if it had actually been about him.

The movie isn’t aggressively awful like last year’s This Means War, and the leads are pleasant enough, although Cathy has no real character at all. So what is our conclusion? It’s a completely middle of the road action story, with a few good parts and some okay acting and action, and some quite stupid parts too. An average movie that’s both exciting enough as a diversion but not exciting enough to stick with you. Actually, it’s almost worth it just to see a good Kevin Costner performance. Take of that one what you will.