Sem Remorso

Without Remorse is probably my favorite Tom Clancy book - imagine my excitement when I see it's been turned into a movie and then my utter disappointment after realizing that the only thing this movie has in common with the book are the title and the names of a few characters.

To add insult to injury, what follows is a bland storyline with at times nonsensical situations.

A generic shoot-'em-up that Hollywood used to do with Westerns ever since they began making movies. It doesn't matter that there's the military, espionage and geopolitical conspiracies involved in the Tom Clancy variation on the formula; it's always the same thing. The baddie and his red herring are so obvious that one of them might as well be wearing a black hat. But, sure, the action is standard, if darkly lit, and Michael B. Jordan fits the part of a muscular star to recognizably pose between the rest of the interchangeable tropes. Maybe you'll even find "Without Remorse" a bit fun with him not playing by the rules, out for revenge as he is. For crying out loud, we even get a mid-credits scene setting up a franchise.

When a movie is this dull, I start desperately looking for something to be worth my attention. One character makes a point regarding the Cold War having brought Americans together, whereas now without a common enemy one half sees the other half as the enemy. That comes too late to matter, though. There's also the business of Jordan's character telling his enemies to say his murdered wife's name. That got me thinking about the SayHerName campaign, but the picture doesn't do anything with its star being an African American, and in one sequence he takes out an entire squad of Russian police officers who are just doing their jobs. So, yeah, there's nothing here.

There are thousands of other movies that are far far worse than this. 1 or 2 star rating is really not accurate. Wasnt the best movie I have ever seen but I was entertained and enjoyed it.

I haven't read Without Remorse, yet considering Amazon started business selling books, why can't the writers of these productions read one if they're going to say it's based on one! Tom Clancy was the master of the techno-thriller, mixing elements of science fiction, political thriller and spy genres, albeit Clancys extensive research helped readers understand foreign militaries and his plots eerily echoed real events to the degree rumours circulated the CIA thought he was a mole.

This film has none of his subtlety. Yes, it's normal for books to change when made into a film, but all that seems left of Clancys work are a few names.

On the plus side, Jamie Bell does get the sneaky company man role down. His spook demeanour in relation to the other soldiers is probably the most in keeping with Clancy.

MBJ makes a decent effort as the lead, who in typical Hollywood fashion is pretty trigger happy, an amazing shot with grenades, but never seems to be in much peril, while Jodie Turner-Smith seems to only be allowed one emotion.

On the other side, I'm not sure if Guy Pearce was just tired all the way through, but compared to the usual energy he shows in his other films, he was putting me to sleep.

The cinematography is dark at places really hard to see what is going on. I get fighting in the dark adds to the effect, but I ended up watching one of the early fight scenes three times and only found out what had happened later in the film. It shouldn't be that hard.

The post credits scene should have filled me with joy, but considering everything I'd just seen, it just left me more sad.

Firstly, I'd like to ask why reviewers tell me about the plot. I want to know what you think of the movie, not what happens. I wouldn't be contemplating watching it if wasn't my type of movie. I found this movie highly watchable and very entertaining. Everyone does their job well.