It definitely had potential. The acting was good enough for an action popcorn flick and it had some nice set-pieces.
What disappointed me the the most was the writing. As an origin story, the prologue felt rushed, jumping from one event to the next. I understand the importance of showing how Ryan went from being a PhD student in Economics to joining the Marines to being recruited by the CIA, but I feel it all could have been done in a more cohesive way.I was also very disappointed by Keira Knightly’s character. She performed it well enough, but what should have been a complex, intellectual, independent female role devolved into a typical action film damsel in distress. Her character had good moments, such as pushing Ryan to be more than his injury and debating Russian poetry with Kenneth Branaugh, but the rest seemed like a totally different character. The scene where Ryan reveals to her that he is in the CIA, which was probably meant to be a touching scene where she finally believes that he isn’t cheating, actually brought laughter from the audience — including myself — because of how ridiculous her reaction was.
I would like to see more of Pine’s Jack Ryan, but any sequels would have to do a much better job of honoring Tom Clancy’s work.
3 out of 5 stars.
Viewed February 8, 2014 at LOOK Cinemas Prestonwood in Dallas, Texas.
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