The new Jack Ryan film seems to take a James Bond approach to the character, in that you can introduce a new actor into the role, and totally reinvent his world. So following on from Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford, suddenly we get a very junior Ben Affleck in the role. In actual fact I was pleasantly surprised by the film, and not knowing the premise, taken totally off-guard at one point (my tip is to read as little as possible about the film in advance).
It’s certainly entertaining to see lots of British character actors playing Russians in this film – although Richard Marner as President Zorkin (a Yeltsin type of Russian president) is hard for British viewers since he is forever Colonel von Strohm in the sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo. And then there’s a truly bizarre moment when Alan Bates’ Dressler is watching an episode of The Antiques Roadshow.
OK so the premise of the film, and why the bad guys are doing what they’re doing is on dodgy ground, and Ryan is a bit too all action at the end, and lines of communication seem atrocious, but aside from the tacked on ending, it all feels quite believable – or at least possible.