Release Date: 01/17/2014
Jack Ryan, as a young covert CIA analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
The only reason I'm knocking half a star off this movie's ceiling is that I wish it were Harrison Ford in Kevin Costner's role. In true "passing of the torch" fashion, it would've been nice to see. Other than that, as the Founder and President of the "Hollywood Is Underutilizing Chris Pine" Club, I'm more excited for this than I have been for a movie in a while. Seriously though, if you watched This Means War, you saw Tom Hardy and Chris Pine slumming it in the type of movie Reese Witherspoon absolutely belongs in. Pine will finally be allowed a starring vehicle to show what he can do with this reboot of the Tom Clancy series based around the titular character previously played by Alec Baldwin, Ford and - gulp - Ben Affleck. So yes, I realize we've tried this role with a young, handsome actor before, and yes, it became a poor imitation of James Bond (Sum of All Fears). I promise, this one will be different.
How can I be so sure? Besides Pine taking the reins, Costner looks to be well-cast and continuing his patriarchal run following Man of Steel. Kenneth Branagh not only directs, but plays the villain. It isn't based on any of Clancy's books, but rather an original story involving the characters, so it won't be tied to anything particularly dated, or risk angering fanboys who will nitpick minor details changed from the source material. The trailer has two completely different, but fantastic pieces of music, and if the action sequences aren't just smash-cut to look awesome, those parts shouldn't disappoint either. I realize it's easy to fake both those things in a trailer, but they certainly can't be bad signs, right?
However, there is certainly room for skepticism. Directing is hard enough without also starring in the movie, so Branagh has a challenge. The Irishman's Russian accent sounds like it might rise to comical levels at some points ("You think this is game, Jack?") and could get distracting. While we're on that topic, Keira Knightley sounds like she's improved her American accent, but I'm sure there will still be several cringe-worthy moments with it. That original concept that could serve the movie well could also be its downfall. That's the problem with original concepts; there's nothing to look at to gauge the potential.
All in all, there's cover names (Connor Beck? I like that more than Jack Ryan!), there's an underutilized actor, there's a solid track record (again, Ben Affleck not withstanding), and it's a high-budget spy thriller! What could go wrong? This is where you bring up Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, which is certainly a valid point, but I'm pretty sure a trailer couldn't be so awesome that it hides that level of terrible.
How can I be so sure? Besides Pine taking the reins, Costner looks to be well-cast and continuing his patriarchal run following Man of Steel. Kenneth Branagh not only directs, but plays the villain. It isn't based on any of Clancy's books, but rather an original story involving the characters, so it won't be tied to anything particularly dated, or risk angering fanboys who will nitpick minor details changed from the source material. The trailer has two completely different, but fantastic pieces of music, and if the action sequences aren't just smash-cut to look awesome, those parts shouldn't disappoint either. I realize it's easy to fake both those things in a trailer, but they certainly can't be bad signs, right?
However, there is certainly room for skepticism. Directing is hard enough without also starring in the movie, so Branagh has a challenge. The Irishman's Russian accent sounds like it might rise to comical levels at some points ("You think this is game, Jack?") and could get distracting. While we're on that topic, Keira Knightley sounds like she's improved her American accent, but I'm sure there will still be several cringe-worthy moments with it. That original concept that could serve the movie well could also be its downfall. That's the problem with original concepts; there's nothing to look at to gauge the potential.
All in all, there's cover names (Connor Beck? I like that more than Jack Ryan!), there's an underutilized actor, there's a solid track record (again, Ben Affleck not withstanding), and it's a high-budget spy thriller! What could go wrong? This is where you bring up Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, which is certainly a valid point, but I'm pretty sure a trailer couldn't be so awesome that it hides that level of terrible.