As I sat down in my assigned seat Theater 7 of Monaco Pictures, I knew that I would not enjoy this movie.
Action movies have never been my cup of tea. Car chase after car chase leading into explosions are expected in every film. This movie was my final stand. I was not going to be dragged to another action family movie night.
The screen displayed five or six previews of future action movies (that I would not be seeing) and finally the title sequence appeared. Jack Ryan, played by the attractive Chris Pine, woke up from a nap on a city park bench. I immediately fell in love. Not only was I unaware Chris Pine played the character of Jack Ryan, Ryan was a college student who joined the Marines. For 105 minutes, I drooled over Ryan’s perfect body, suave personality and witty sense of humor. But that was about it.
After a what-seemed-to-be-fatal helicopter crash, Ryan was rehabilitated at a military hospital where he had to learn how to walk again. There, Ryan met his future fiancée, Cathy Mueller. Mueller was a doctor in training at the hospital and guided Ryan back on his feet. As a movie critic, I believe the filmmakers of Jake Ryan: Shadow Recruit could have picked a better actress to play Mueller. Keira Knightley, who played Mueller, seemed very pushy and much of a nuisance. Although the script was a bit cheesy, an actress such as Julianne Hough would have done the character of Cathy Mueller better justice, for she tends to play a romantic character in her movies.
While doing rehab exercises, a CIA agent called Ryan to speak in private. Ryan took a job as a covert CIA analyst. The film is based upon a file Ryan uncovers that shows trillions of dollars held by Russian organizations that have “disappeared”. Ryan believes this will cause an act of terrorism and decides to settle these issues.
This film was not a total disappointment. When I learned that Jack Ryan was a character from a series of books, I figured the movie should correlate to the novels and possibly add some icing to the cake. Unfortunately, it did not. I do not desire to watch this film again. I rate “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit” two stars out of five for the actual character of Jack Ryan and the mystery that the plot offered to the viewers.
In other words, mission failed.