Jack Ryan, as a young covert C.I.A. analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.Jack Ryan, as a young covert C.I.A. analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.Jack Ryan, as a young covert C.I.A. analyst, uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 3 nominations total
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
After the terrible events of 9/11 "Jack Ryan" (Chris Pine) quits college and joins the Marine Corps. He is then sent to Afghanistan and suffers a severe injury requiring hospitalization and therapy at Walter Reed. As he is about to be released he is offered a a position in the CIA by a man named "Thomas Harper" (Kevin Costner) to essentially work as an undercover financial analyst in which he specializes in finding shell organizations that pump money to terrorists organizations. In the course of his duties he finds a lead which takes him all the way to Moscow and the discovery of a terrifying plot. Now rather than reveal any more of this film and risk spoiling it for those who haven't seen it I will just say that I thought this was a pretty good movie overall. I especially liked the complex plot but in all fairness I must admit it got a little bit over-the-top in the end. In any case I rate it as above average.
Jack Ryan: nine novels (15 if you include the Jack Ryan Jr series), five films, four lead actors (Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck & now Chris Pine) and two reboots. Tom Clancy's best-known character has endured and enjoyed a varied existence to say the least.
Intended as the second reimagining, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, is more a rebirth of the Marine turned CIA agent turned world-saving, death-defying, awe-inspiring, all American hero. Forget the books, ignore the timeline, disengage the brain, abandon reason, slice the pizza, sip the beer and settle down for a mindless romp. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is predictable fun with barely a toe in the world of reality but it is fun just as long as you forget to think.
Jack Ryan (Pine) is a student at the London School of Economics when terrorists fly two aeroplanes into the World Trade Centre towers. 9/11 prompts Ryan to make a career about-turn and join the Marines. Fast forward a few years and Ryan is undergoing intense rehab in a military hospital having barely survived after a chopper he was aboard was shot down in Afghanistan. Ryan is firstly observed and then recruited by the shadowy Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) as a desk-bound CIA analyst, but a trip to Russia to investigate the nefarious financial dealings of Viktor Cheverin (Kenneth Branagh) elevates Ryan very swiftly to role of field agent, and an action man is (re)born.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is neither as loud nor as brainless as last year's White-House-under-attack double act of White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen but it is about as much fun and has at least as many plot holes. The entire finale comes about as a result of a catalogue of unrealistically simple contrivances and there is no reason to have Ryan's girlfriend, Cathy Muller (Keira Knightly), anywhere near Moscow other than to sex up the film and redress the situation of the underused Anne Archer from the Harrison Ford years.
There are no prizes for acting here. Pine may have found franchise work for the next few years but Costner, Knightly and Branagh are here for the light relief and the easy pay cheques. Let's just hope that for each of them this is merely a short break from the superior work of which they are all capable.
Branagh, on double duties as actor/director, will have done himself a lot of favours here with the money men at the studios and it further cements his position as a gun for hire in Hollywood, but all these popcorn flicks he's turning out for the studios take him further away from shooting another series of Wallander for the BBC. And I for one am not happy about that.
It must be possible to make a thriller that is exciting, suspenseful, vaguely realistic and intelligent, but Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit isn't it. 'Fun' is fine but it isn't memorable or satisfying. Less a case of 'could do better', more a case of 'has been better.'
For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.
Intended as the second reimagining, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, is more a rebirth of the Marine turned CIA agent turned world-saving, death-defying, awe-inspiring, all American hero. Forget the books, ignore the timeline, disengage the brain, abandon reason, slice the pizza, sip the beer and settle down for a mindless romp. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is predictable fun with barely a toe in the world of reality but it is fun just as long as you forget to think.
Jack Ryan (Pine) is a student at the London School of Economics when terrorists fly two aeroplanes into the World Trade Centre towers. 9/11 prompts Ryan to make a career about-turn and join the Marines. Fast forward a few years and Ryan is undergoing intense rehab in a military hospital having barely survived after a chopper he was aboard was shot down in Afghanistan. Ryan is firstly observed and then recruited by the shadowy Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner) as a desk-bound CIA analyst, but a trip to Russia to investigate the nefarious financial dealings of Viktor Cheverin (Kenneth Branagh) elevates Ryan very swiftly to role of field agent, and an action man is (re)born.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is neither as loud nor as brainless as last year's White-House-under-attack double act of White House Down and Olympus Has Fallen but it is about as much fun and has at least as many plot holes. The entire finale comes about as a result of a catalogue of unrealistically simple contrivances and there is no reason to have Ryan's girlfriend, Cathy Muller (Keira Knightly), anywhere near Moscow other than to sex up the film and redress the situation of the underused Anne Archer from the Harrison Ford years.
There are no prizes for acting here. Pine may have found franchise work for the next few years but Costner, Knightly and Branagh are here for the light relief and the easy pay cheques. Let's just hope that for each of them this is merely a short break from the superior work of which they are all capable.
Branagh, on double duties as actor/director, will have done himself a lot of favours here with the money men at the studios and it further cements his position as a gun for hire in Hollywood, but all these popcorn flicks he's turning out for the studios take him further away from shooting another series of Wallander for the BBC. And I for one am not happy about that.
It must be possible to make a thriller that is exciting, suspenseful, vaguely realistic and intelligent, but Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit isn't it. 'Fun' is fine but it isn't memorable or satisfying. Less a case of 'could do better', more a case of 'has been better.'
For more reviews from The Squiss, subscribe to my blog and like the Facebook page.
This film tells the story of a economics university student, who is recruited by the CIA to fight against financial crime. He quickly stumbles upon a series of mysterious accounts when he is working undercover in a financial company, thereby uncovering a terrorism plot.
"Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" tells an thrilling story about a man having to face a Russian crook who have masterminded an elaborate terrorist plot. Though he has much support from his team, there are many occasions where danger is real and imminent. It delivers thrills and excitement, and the stylish office in Russia is pleasing to look at too. I enjoyed watching this film.
"Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit" tells an thrilling story about a man having to face a Russian crook who have masterminded an elaborate terrorist plot. Though he has much support from his team, there are many occasions where danger is real and imminent. It delivers thrills and excitement, and the stylish office in Russia is pleasing to look at too. I enjoyed watching this film.
It's ironic that "Jack Ryan" is part of the title for this one because this is the furthest from the character that any of the films have been. Beyond a some what similar back-story, the doctor soon to be wife, and that he works for the CIA, Ryan is not Ryan. They turn him more into a spy/field agent than the brainy analyst that he's meant to be. As a result, there is nothing in this movie that makes it stand out from the rest of it's genre. It's just another spy movie with an over the top villain that's plotting world domination. It's predictable and generic. They sacrificed what made the Jack Ryan character unique.
I'm not saying that the movie didn't work as some Bond/Bourne/Mission Impossible wannabe with bits and pieces slapped together from every spy thriller ever made. It captured successful elements from those films pretty well. It's just a shame that they relied on recycling tired and over used narrative when there is still a bunch of great Ryan books that they have yet to adapt. There should be no reason to slap together this films story when a much more talented writer like Clancy still has more stories to draw from. I agree with Peter Travers comment "It's a product constructed out of spare parts and assembled with computerized precision."
Despite following a predictable formula very closely instead of the source material, the movie still works as entertainment. Chris Pine is great, despite the writers failing him, and he really carries the movie. He could be a great Jack Ryan if they actually wrote the character correctly. Branagh delivers a pretty good villain, even though he's more suited for a Bond film. There are a couple of scenes that deliver good suspense. It's just not a Jack Ryan movie. It seems that they only used Jack Ryan for the brand name rather than faithfully trying to tell a story about him.
I'm not saying that the movie didn't work as some Bond/Bourne/Mission Impossible wannabe with bits and pieces slapped together from every spy thriller ever made. It captured successful elements from those films pretty well. It's just a shame that they relied on recycling tired and over used narrative when there is still a bunch of great Ryan books that they have yet to adapt. There should be no reason to slap together this films story when a much more talented writer like Clancy still has more stories to draw from. I agree with Peter Travers comment "It's a product constructed out of spare parts and assembled with computerized precision."
Despite following a predictable formula very closely instead of the source material, the movie still works as entertainment. Chris Pine is great, despite the writers failing him, and he really carries the movie. He could be a great Jack Ryan if they actually wrote the character correctly. Branagh delivers a pretty good villain, even though he's more suited for a Bond film. There are a couple of scenes that deliver good suspense. It's just not a Jack Ryan movie. It seems that they only used Jack Ryan for the brand name rather than faithfully trying to tell a story about him.
All in all, the story line, chronology, acting etc in this movie are okay, but too cliché as most scenes are predictable. Keira Knightley does not portray a natural chemistry in her role as a girlfriend or mission assistant. I find the awkwardness of her scenes has drowned the tension & intensiveness of the movie.
At a positive view, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) did a pretty good job. His cool, humorous kind of charisma paid off in this movie. There were some scenes where I actually felt funny & LOL.
My initial vote for this movie was '5' & he is the reason why I added '1' more vote.
At a positive view, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine) did a pretty good job. His cool, humorous kind of charisma paid off in this movie. There were some scenes where I actually felt funny & LOL.
My initial vote for this movie was '5' & he is the reason why I added '1' more vote.
Did you know
- TriviaWhen asked about the possibility of a sequel to this movie, star Chris Pine replied: "No. I don't think it made enough money for that to happen. That's one of my deep regrets, that we didn't totally get that right."
- GoofsThe strip mall supposedly in Dearborn, Michigan, has a shop that displays a UK National Lottery sign above one of the shops.
- Quotes
Jack Ryan: [to Harper, while arguing with Cathy] Can we have a... a-a-a minute, please ?
William Harper: No, you can't.
Cathy Muller: I would like to talk to Jack alone.
William Harper: This is geopolitics. It's not couples therapy.
- Crazy creditsThe title of the film doesn't appear until 12 minutes into the movie.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Film '72: Episode dated 21 January 2014 (2014)
- SoundtracksSorry, Wrong Number Prelude
Written by Franz Waxman
From the motion picture Raccrochez, c'est une erreur ! (1948)
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Official sites
- Languages
- Also known as
- Código sombra: Jack Ryan
- Filming locations
- Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK(the night time car chase through the streets of 'Moscow' was filmed in Liverpool city centre. The 'Manhattan' tunnel to which Ryan tracks the real terrorist plot is the entrance to the Queensway Tunnel. The Theatre is Liverpool Town Hall, and the final foot chase is around the Royal Liver Building in Water Street)
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $60,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $50,577,412
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $15,451,981
- Jan 19, 2014
- Gross worldwide
- $135,503,748
- Runtime1 hour 45 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 2.35 : 1
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content