5 Reasons Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Isn't Just The Usual January Trash
4. Tense Action
Obviously a thriller isnt worth watching if it isnt actually thrilling, so thankfully the film has some exciting sequences that go about things with a brain, choosing not to turn Jack into some sort of killing machine just because hes in the CIA. He is green and unadjusted to both physical combat and espionage making for a completely vulnerable character that must either learn from Harper or suffer a cruel fate. Jacks first kill for example is a moment of pure battle for survival thats both exciting and somewhat realistic to watch. Of course towards the end the set pieces naturally get ridiculous to create some climactic touches, but for the majority of the film the tension comes from sleuthing around gigantic corporate buildings in Moscow and piecing together evidence found from encrypted data. It's not all popcorn stuffing excitement however as there is one action sequence in the middle involving a hail of bullets that leads to one of the stalest and most unimpressive car chases in quite some time. Its entire purpose and conclusion are totally predictable too rendering everything a waste of time that belonged in a different breed of action thriller. The final sequence fares better but still never truly reaches memorable heights. This is ultimately just a situation where the good outweigh the mediocre.
