Chris Pine stars as Jack Ryan (Paramount Pictures).

“Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit”, like any good action film, immediately starts with action and the plot unfolding. With many different scenarios and location/time changes, it makes it slightly difficult to keep up with the climax’s time element with all the scenes jumping around. One minute it’s 2001 with the 9/11 attacks, then it’s 2003. Later, there are talks about Facebook and Instagram. 

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The film mostly takes place in present day Russia, while the book series takes place in the USSR. Jack Ryan is a member of the Marines when he is injured in a helicopter accident. He meets his fiancé, Cathy (Keira Knightley), a medical student while undergoing physical therapy. There, he is recruited by Agent Harper (Kevin Costner) to join the CIA while working on Wall Street to uncover any financial information that can lead to preventing terrorist attacks. 

Ryan uncovers that the Russians are planning to weaken the dollar and plan an attack on U.S. soil to create another depression, making the U.S. a weak country with a weak economy. 

Though it was nice seeing Kevin Costner back as a military official like in “No Way Out”, he served as a minor role as Ryan’s mentor and wasn’t involved in many action scenes. Instead, he and characters like Knightley’s were mostly seen in scenes that involved cars, vans and planes. 

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“Jack Ryan” has some humorous moments to lighten up the mood before suspenseful events that will have audience members jumping out of their seats from loud gunshots or explosions. 

The movie closes with Jack Ryan standing before the president with the office door open just enough to see him being commemorated for his work serving the country. Surely, Chris Pine will return as Jack Ryan with more suspense and adventure. 

Reach Staff Member Tanya Mardirossian here.