Picoreview: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit: muuuuuch better than I expected.
I mean, it’s a popcorn movie, don’t get me wrong, but I like popcorn movies and this one served up nicely. It turns out I rather like Chris Pine, maybe especially when he’s not being lit by lens flares along his razored cheekbones (I already knew I liked his voice better when I couldn’t see him, thanks to his voicing Jack Frost in Guardians of Easter or whatever that movie was :)), and he was more approachable and endearing as Jack Ryan than as Kirk. So that was all good.
However, it was Kiera Knightly who really made the movie for me. She had a much better part than just damsel-in-distress, and is highly relevant to a lot of the turns of storyline (even above and beyond the obvious one that gets her in trouble), so I enjoyed that tremendously. Also, it was nice to see her not in a corset. :)
Pine is still not Alec Baldwin, who is the Best Jack Ryan (even if Baldwin turned out to be an unforgiveable ass as a person, in the end), but I’ll happily go see another one of his Jack Ryan films
I so agree about Alec Baldwin, I was debating about going to see this movie because I haven’t enjoyed the Jack Ryan movies since Hunt for Red October. Thanks for the review.