Jack Ryan's second entry on this list is the 2014 reboot of the character starring Chris Pine. This time, the enemy is also Russia, but a post-Cold War Russia that is tired of America intervening in their affairs. A conspiracy led by economic genius Viktor Cherevin aims to cripple the American dollar by launching a terrorist attack. The terrorist attack would weaken America's standing and reinforce their national debt; Cherevin would then introduce billions of dollars back into the market, overloading it and crashing the U.S. economy. This is by far the most complicated plan we've had in film all year! Intelligent man as he is, Ryan figures out that there is something fishy going on with Cherevin's corporation and travels to Russia to get to the bottom of it. After determining the specifics of the plot, Ryan returns to the United States just in time to thwart the terrorist attack: a bomb intended for Wall Street placed there by Cherevin's son, Aleksandr. Ryan saves the day and is congratulated by the President for his actions. This film has the same error as The Hunt for Red October: that is, sweeping the diplomatic ramifications of the plot under the rug. Cherevin was working alongside several other powerful Russian men, including the Interior Minister, and the terrorist attack was very nearly successful. America would not be the only one to be angry at Russia; the collapse of the dollar would harm a lot of other countries, not the least of which would be Russia's next door neighbour China. With those two countries sniffing around, it would not take long for the conspiracy to be exposed and World War III to break out.
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