Jack Ryan: This Time It’s Not Ben Affleck

Spy and military thriller novelist Tom Clancy passed away this week, and I find it fitting that the first trailer for the new Jack Ryan film has been released this week as well – that can’t be a coincidence. Now, I’ve never been the biggest fan of Jack Ryan films. Harrison Ford played the character quite well, but neither of the two movies that he was in (Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger) really blew me away. I enjoyed Alec Baldwin’s Ryan in The Hunt for Red October, but for some reason that film isn’t a “Jack Ryan” film in my mind. I saw The Sum of All Fears in theatres way back in 2002, and I found it largely forgettable. So why should I care about Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit? Well, I think the casting is good – Kevin Costner actually looks pretty cool here, all haggard and stubbly – and it’s got a quality director behind the camera. Is this the first time Kenneth Branagh has done an action movie like this? I don’t think Thor counts. Anyway, I’m getting a distinct Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol vibe from this, and since I quite enjoyed that movie (considering it was the fourth film in the series), I think this one will probably make for some good popcorn entertainment. I won’t hold out hope that it’s going to be some masterpiece, but I think this could be good, guys, even if the title is kinda dumb.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit comes out December 25, 2013.

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