10 Film Reboots And Remakes To Be Concerned About In 2014
10. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
Plot: Jack Ryan works as a junior analyst for the CIA. He soon uncovers evidence of a possible future terrorist attack. He's sent to Moscow to investigate this suspicion. Based on: Tom Clancy's popular Jack Ryan series, which in the '90s, were adapted into a series of highly successful action/suspense films. Jack Ryan has been played by four different actors now: Alec Baldwin in "The Hunt for Red October," Harrison Ford in "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger," the series was then rebooted in 2002's "The Sum of All Fears" which starred Ben Affleck. Chris Pine will be playing Jack Ryan in the newest version. The fourth film in the series did not do as well as producers had hoped and the franchise was long considered dead as a result. Now, Paramount has rebooted the series, but this one will not be based on any of Tom Clancy's novels. Instead, it's an original idea based on his characters. It's one thing to do a reboot because you have a specific vision in mind about how you want to depict the characters, but this does not feel that way. Based off the trailer, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit just feels like another modern day action movie with some vague Clancy-like elements thrown in for good measure (CIA, the evil Russians, etc.). The problem with the "modern day action thriller" is that, today, none of them feel distinguishable from each other. They all have a Jason Bourne-esque feel to them now and Shadow Recruit feels no different thus far. Kenneth Branagh plays the bad guy and directs the film. Branagh has directed over a dozen films, but did not stretch his action muscles until he made Thor over two years ago. I consider the action in Thor to be one of the weakest links in that film, but maybe Branagh has learned a lesson or two that he can apply to Shadow Recruit. While there's a possibility that this could be an entertaining movie, we are seeing signs to the contrary. First of all, Paramount did not seem to mind dumping the film in the middle of January, which is one of the least lucrative months for newly-released movies. It could be possible that they have edited this trailer to make the movie look generic, but then you have to wonder, who is this movie for? The last Jack Ryan movie came out eleven years ago. There's a whole generation out there who do not care about this character at all, and the people who do remember him, will most likely balk at this particular depiction. Overall, there just seems to be a lack of confidence in promoting the film that should be worrisome for anyone looking forward to this. U.S. Release Date: January 17th http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9KAnx4EvaE
