Tom Clancy’s rugged CIA analyst returns to the big screen with this watchable exercise in cold war nostalgia. This time around Ryan (Chris Pine) arrives in Moscow to investigate an evil tycoon (Kenneth Branagh) who’s plotting a terrorist attack on Wall Street. Following in the footsteps of Ben Affleck, Harrison Ford, and Alec Baldwin, Pine is a good choice to play a spy—his bland, unthreatening screen presence suggests an ideal cover. Unfortunately the movie is all but devoid of dramatic interest whenever he has to deliver dialogue, which is fairly often. The action sequences aren’t bad, though. Branagh directed, continuing his new sideline as a Hollywood hack (cf. Thor); with Kevin Costner and Keira Knightley.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
PG-13 • 1 hour 45 min • 2014
