Starring: Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh
A veteran of the war in Afghanistan, Jack Ryan (Pine) is picked for work as an analyst working covertly in the CIA, using his credentials in economics. When Jack suspects a sinister form of financial terrorism brewing in Russia, he leaves to chase down the wealthy Viktor Cherevin (Branagh), only Jack's fiancee, Cathy (Knightley) turns up in Moscow, where she learns of Jack's double-life and becomes complicit in his plan to tale down Cherevin.
Given the passing of techno-thriller novelist Tom Clancy last year, there's something symbolic about this film, starring one of Clancy's best known characters and seemingly intent on a follow-up series. It's fair to say that on the basis of this film, Jack Ryan deserves a repeat performance, but the game may need to improve if the plans are going for the long-term. The film's director, Sir Kenneth Branagh, is perhaps better known for his acting than his directing (even here, with his turn as a villain who seems almost like he's strode out of the universe of James Bond) but he has clear competence as a director, building on the promisingly slick aesthetics of his work in Thor (2011), fusing both old-school spy thriller conventions with a Christopher Nolan-styled sense of presentation.
As the acting goes, the cast is decent. Branagh makes for a fine villain, but given his chops, a more lively performance may have been called for. Keira Knightly overcomes the occasional wobble on American accent to become an agreeable romantic foil whilst Kevin Costner does a fair job playing a grizzled mentor to our hero. As Jack Ryan, Chris Pine brings a roguish but clearly intelligent presence which suits the character but fails to show Pine playing a radically different role to that of his Captain Kirk from the Star Trek films. The plot, whilst dealing with some fairly lofty concepts is still accessible but culminates in less of a bang and more of an unsatisfying whimper whilst the black-and-white and cliched depictions of our characters in the script is a decisive flaw. There's more than enough to build on with this slightly impressive film, but complacency must not take hold if any more of this Jack Ryan series is to be attempted.
Next time, it's Rocky Balboa versus Jake LaMotta...well, Sylvester Stallone versus Robert De Niro as two old boxing rivals square up for a lucrative bout in Grudge Match.
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