Without Remorse

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.

I loved Tom Clancy books and movies growing up and I always wanted them to make Without Remorse into a movie since the book was so good. I was thoroughly disappointed. The only commonality are some of the characters and the title. They could have just changed the character names and the title and not claim this to be a Tom Clancy film. Either stick with the plot of the books and do them justice or don't claim to do a Tom Clancy film. The plot they did use instead was stale and not what I would expect for a major release. It was more in the direct to DVD league.

It also seems like they did not have very good technical advisors... or geographers. The opening scene takes place in a landlocked city and yet Kelly and his team infiltrate via water. The uniforms are also very inconsistent... Greer is wearing a commanders cap in at least one place which is different than what her rank would be. Since the writers took so much liberty with realism, they just wrote her in as a SEAL instead of a more plausible role like being some sort of subject matter expert attached to Kelly's team. I'm not one to dismiss the idea that there are women out there capable of becoming Navy SEALs, but I would expect the to be built like a crossfit games winner instead of the stereotypical model. I know this comes off as nitpicking, but the filmmakers should know their audience. Tom Clancy's books and previous films were always very detailed and realistic and this film was far from that.

The one positive part of the film was Michael B. Jordan's performance and the only reason I gave this any stars. I was excited to see him in the role when it was announced. He did well with what he had to work with. It is a real shame. Had they stuck to the plot of the book and took the details seriously, I would be excited for Rainbow Six. Now I just hope they forget they planned on doing it.

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.

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.

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.