Jack Ryan is back! After a long hiatus following the worst film the the “Jack Ryan” franchise.
In an age where subtitles appear bigger than the franchise name (see below; MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL & STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS – also starring Chris Pine) comes JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT, a franchise that seems to be attempting to cast as many actors to play the Tom Clancy character as have played other, more well known icons like 007 and Batman.
JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT seems to be a reboot to the franchise. Jack gets his first ‘in-the-field’ mission, just as he did in HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER.
Instead of Ben Affleck and Morgan Freeman (both will now have worked in the Batman-universe), Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones, or Alec Baldwin and… again… James Earl Jones, this time we have Capt’Kirk himself, Chris Pine, playing Ryan with Kevin Costner as his government contact/father-figure/aid.
The first Jack Ryan movie not based off an actual Tom Clancy novel (notice the poster says ‘based on the characters created by Tom Clancy), is also the first Jack Ryan film to have the character’s name in the title. All because, unlike in the days of CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER and PATRIOT GAMES, HWood knows we are too stupid to make the connection unless all upcoming films carry ‘JACK RYAN’ in the title.
I kind of like it, as long as Paramount keeps using subtitles instead of numbers. Numbers date a movie (which is why even Marvel dropped them after the IRON MAN franchise), though SHADOW RECRUIT sounds it could be just as much the name for the next MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE film. GHOST PROTOCOL… SHADOW RECRUIT… tell me I’m not the only one who thinks these spy titles aren’t generic, focus-group tested, Hollywood executive garbage!
The trailer and more! After the jump! Continue reading “A JACK RYAN for the 21st (or is it 24th?) Century”
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