Having gotten over his first kill in record time, Jack then discovers that Cheverin has masterminded a plot to sink the U.S. Alas, this is still Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, so the moment is quickly forgotten about and Jack ultimately suffers no psychological repercussions from the experience whatsoever. There's a fascinating story to be told here, about a relatively ordinary man (albeit one extraordinary enough to catch the CIA's attention) thrust into extreme circumstances. Harper gravely replies that 'If you're lucky, you get past it.'Īt this point, I got my hopes up that Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit could be salvageable yet. When he finally gets hold of Harper, he shakily asks whether he'll ever get over the awful feeling of killing a man. Ryan is red-faced and out of breath, and so jittery he almost shoots at the shower before throwing the gun away from himself in a panic. Physically, he handles himself well enough to kill the bad guy, but psychologically, he's all shook up.

Ryan ducks, kicking off a fight scene that lasts several minutes and destroys the room. One of the film's few interesting scenes takes place shortly after he checks into his hotel in Russia, when he's unexpectedly shot at by a henchman of Cheverin's (played by Game of Thrones' Nonso Anozie). The trip turns out to be a big turning point for Ryan, the moment when he goes from being a desk jockey to being the international man of mystery we've seen in other films. So he's sent by the CIA there to investigate.

In his day job, he uncovers some suspicious activity out of Russia. Fast-forward a couple of years, and he's working as an analyst on Wall Street while doing double duty as an undercover agent for the CIA. There, he meets the two supporting characters who'll stay with him for the rest of the film: William Harper (Costner), the CIA agent who recruits him, and Cathy (Knightley), the love of his life. program, joins the Marines, is injured in a helicopter crash, and is sent to Walter Reed to recover. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit serves as as a prequel to the existing Jack Ryan films, and as such it opens with Jack on a college campus in 2001. Upon learning about the 9/11 attack, he drops out of his Ph.D. Like the rest of the film, it feels less like a creative endeavor than a rote attempt to hit all the expected marks. In the end, though, his tragic backstory doesn't make much sense and his flirty side doesn't generate much heat.Īnd then there's the main plot. (Branagh also directed.) At the very least, there are attempts to flesh him out via a tragic backstory and a flirty side. Branagh's villainous Viktor Cherevin fares slightly better, presumably because that's one perk of being the boss. Kevin Costner and Keira Knightley aren't much more compelling, unless you count the novelty factor of seeing Knightley adopt an American accent. This laziness extends to the rest of the film. Instead, he does the right thing because it's the right thing to do, explaining his decisions with banalities like 'If I'm going to serve, I'm going to serve.' Jack Ryan is so boring, in fact, that the only time he shows any personality at all is when he's adopting affectations of someone else's character as part of his mission. Jack has no personality, no motivation, no sense of humor, no character arc, and no witty lines.

Pine tries his best, but the script by Adam Cozad and David Koepp offers him no help. As portrayed in the film, however, he has all the depth of a paper doll.

Jack ryan shadow recruit