JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

Judging by this fifth outing Jack Ryan is a dull character, which probably explains why attempts to build a franchise around him have failed (Chris Pine here is the fourth actor to play him).  

The first half hour is so generic and forgettable that indeed I had seen this film before and forgotten the early scenes where we meet three of the four main characters: Jack himself, a marine recovering from a serious war injury, Cathy (Keira Knightley) a British trainee doctor, and Harper (Kevin Costner) a CIA high-up who recruits Jack.

Jack is so boring that the best use for him that the CIA can find is to put him in a bank on the off-chance he might learn something to the CIA's advantage.

Fast forward 10 years (!) and Jack is in New York still hoping his stint in the bank will pay off. And guess what?  He discovers some suspicious financial trades pointing to a Russian bank, and off to Moscow he is sent.  

One small problem is that Cathy is now his fiancée but he can't tell her he is with the CIA until they marry.  After 10 years you might think that would have happened, but apparently not.  Go figure.

Thankfully the film perks up in Moscow when we meet the film's fourth major character, Cherevin, the obligatory villain, played by Kenneth Branagh (who also directs).  But not before we are treated to a ludicrous action sequence in which one of Cherevin's security guards tries to kill Jack but instead is himself killed by Jack.  It doesn't make much sense for Cherevin to try to have Jack killed at this early stage but no matter, this sequence is there simply to liven things up. 

To add to Jack's problems Cathy turns up unexpectedly, suspecting Jack of having an affair. So Jack feels obliged to reveal his CIA connection, and rather implausibly Cathy is immediately co-opted into keeping Cherevin distracted in a restaurant whilst Jack breaks into his headquarters, very conveniently located next door.

This is the best part of the film, farfetched though it all is, because there is some tension.  From then on things escalate very quickly as we return to the US in order for Jack to foil an attempt to blow up a large part of Wall Street.  It's all rushed and perfunctory, with no attempt to build up any suspense.

The most surprising thing about this film is that a studio was prepared to finance such a dull and predictable by-the-numbers effort more than ten years after 'The Bourne Identity' had raised the bar for this sort of thing.

RATING: x Find Something Better To Do