Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

This is the fifth espionage thriller revolving around Tom Clancy's CIA operative Jack Ryan, who was previously played by Alec Baldwin (The Hunt for Red October), Harrison Ford (Patriot Games, Clear and Present Danger), and Ben Affleck (The Sum of All Fears). An efficient, escapist thriller, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is not only a prequel—detailing how Ryan was enlisted by the CIA—but also the first film not based on one of Clancy's novels. The story begins with young Jack (Chris Pine) as a student at the London School of Economics at the time of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Fiercely patriotic, Ryan immediately joins the Marines, only to be blown out of the sky over Afghanistan. Recuperating at Walter Reed, he falls in love with med student Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley) and is recruited by Naval Cmdr. William Harper (Kevin Costner) as a systems analyst on Wall Street, covertly reporting to the CIA. When Ryan grows suspicious of his firm's financial dealings, he's dispatched to Russia for an audit, infuriating manipulative oligarch Viktor Cheverin (Kenneth Branagh, who also directs) and his government minister boss (an uncredited Mikhail Baryshnikov), who plan to crash the U.S. economy. Meanwhile, Cathy decides to surprise Jack by joining him in Moscow, unwittingly placing herself in the dangerous action. Branagh handles the derring-do with finesse, but the clichéd plot is so familiar and predictable that it feels recycled. Optional. [Note: Blu-ray extras include audio commentary by director Kenneth Branagh and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, the behind-the-scenes featurettes “Old Enemies Return” (21 min.), “The Smartest Guy in the Room” (14 min.), “Sir Kenneth Branagh: The Tsar of Shadow Recruit” (10 min.), and “A Thinking Man of Action” (5 min.), as well as deleted/extended scenes (5 min.), and bonus DVD, digital, and UltraViolet copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a so-so thriller.] (S. Granger)