Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War Delivers Familiar Spy Thriller Action Review

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War brings John Krasinski back to the iconic role in a globe-trotting espionage thriller filled with familiar action and political intrigue.

Ever since Tom Clancy's character, Jack Ryan, first appeared on film in 1990's The Hunt for Red October, he has been portrayed by five different actors (in many ways like the James Bond character). The first was Alec Baldwin (The Departed), next was Harrison Ford (The Fugitive), then Ben Affleck (Good Will Hunting), followed by Chris Pine (Star Trek franchise), and finally, this week by John Krasinski (A Quiet Place), who also played him on television for four seasons. Jack Ryan was a former Marine/CIA analyst turned agent. Rarely has one character been portrayed by such a diverse group of actors (again see Bond), but Krasinski does a great job of it in the newest release from Amazon MGM Studios, Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War.

As Jack (Krasinski) runs through the streets of New York City, he becomes acutely aware that he is being followed. A futile attempt to evade his stalkers leads him to his former boss, Deputy Director of the CIA, James Greer (Wendell Pierce; The Wire). Despite living as a "civilian" now, Greer asked Ryan to pick up a package from a "friend" while Ryan is on a business trip in Dubai. Even though he objects, Ryan ends up getting tangled in a web of deception that lands him back in the world he thought he left behind.

It is interesting that even though Krasinski signed on to play a character on television back in 2018, he finds himself back on the big screen 8 years later. It certainly shows his versatility as an actor. However, one cast member alone does not make a movie, and so we can't rule out Krasinski's fellow thespians. Pierce is decent as the Deputy Director, but he has one speech in a London conference room that is nothing if not cringy. Michael Kelly (Dawn of the Dead) also returns as his character Mike November, but he is there for nothing more than window dressing as Jack's sidekick. New to the entourage is MI:6 agent Emma Marlow, who is expertly played by Sienna Miller (American Sniper).

The downfall of this movie is its script. With a paint-by-the-numbers plot, there is little to hold one's interest for too long, and it is a film that, once you've seen it, you don't need to see it again. The writing is also rather pedestrian. I was able to guess the next line coming up on at least three different occasions before it was recited during the hour and 45-minute run time. As a co-writer, Krasinski usually has more interesting dialogue, so this was a bit of a surprise and not in a good way.

The action is what one would expect from today's theatrical offerings, but it doesn't offer anything new or different, a la John Wick. The gun work is also tame and used only when necessary, which, honestly, is a nice change from a lot of action films lately. Still, if the filmmakers expect people to shell out their hard-earned dollars to see the movie in theaters, they need to bring more to the table than what is expected.

Fans of the novels, previous films, and the television series will definitely enjoy this entry into Jack Ryan's world, but if they want audiences to come back time and time again, they will need more than beautiful and exotic locations to entice viewers. Director Andrew Bernstein (Ozark) keeps the pace moving at a decent clip, but that makes sense since he is more of a television show director than a feature film one.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Ghost War is entertaining and a decent addition to the world of Jack Ryan, but I doubt anyone would walk out and run to the box office to buy a ticket to see it again.

Grade: C+