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For years, the writer Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan character was a fixture of the multiplex, and the films offered reluctantly-leading-man-of-the-acting opportunity to Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. Most of them were beaten. (Sorry, Chris!) In this context, it may seem cheap that the latest outing for the new character, Jack Ryan: Ghost War, is a continuation of the Amazon TV series, in which John Krasinski takes on the role of a CIA inspector. But there are advantages to this method, too: the four seasons of the show can establish a character and his world, eliminating the burden of a movie to resume. (No small feat for a well-known character who’s even been played by five different guys.) In particular, the show’s presence makes it difficult to navigate the part of Ryan’s career that should begin.
And to its credit, Jack Ryan: Ghost War manages to stand on its own well despite the previous 30 episodes of the establishment. (I don’t remember them all with crystal clarity, and I’m not lost on the plot level.) Fortunately, it’s more cohesive than artistic, especially compared to previous films. This may not seem like a good fight, but Ghost War positions itself as a movie of sorts after four seasons of television; there must be some reason for this new frame, whether it’s a bigger budget, a more dramatic story or an opportunity to put Krasinski alongside his predecessors. (He’s already played Ryan for more hours than any of them.) By the end of 105 minutes, the film seems to be eliminating obvious possibilities, and its reason for hanging in the air.
Ghost War re-enters Ryan, who has left the CIA to work for a hedge fund, hoping to get a shot at the normal life that his clothes and knife have denied him. (His normal life apparently has to include incredible wealth.) Then his former boss James Greer (Wendell Pierce), the deputy director of the CIA, resumes asking Ryan for a small favor on a trip to Dubai. But the quick (if not clearly explained) meeting and leaving becomes more complicated when the other boy is killed next to Ryan. Soon-to-be ex-agent and ex-partner/current contractor Mike November (Michael Kelly) joins forces with MI6 agent Emma Marlow (Sienna Miller), following a plot to relaunch the terrorist organization.
The plot to re-establish the gangs could also explain Jack Ryan: Ghost War. Of course terrorism still exists, but there is something about the film’s view of the world that seems set in the late 2000s, when 9/11 was still the latest global event and many government traditions remained in place, no matter what the foreign policy might be. Ryan’s questioning of the American dream, which is more or less the way he explains his argument with Greer, focuses on the world scene, in simple and highly fictional terms. The more the film tries to ignore the political realities of the 2020s, the more it feels like a small episode passing through the ether.
Krasinski is more responsible for bad speeches than the Ryans of old; he is the first actor to play Jack Ryan from a script he co-wrote. It’s too bad, especially considering the good work he did in the Sieet Place movies; here, there are no less than three lines spoken about the words “it’s a thing” or “a thing isn’t a thing”, a dialogue that wouldn’t happen in a sitcom or a Marvel movie, let alone something to attract gravity. If it seems like four seasons of a TV show might be enough time for a silly comedy about espionage, think again. Ryan has been played variously as mean, shy, charming, self-righteous and stupid. Krasinski is the first actor to make him look like a lightweight. (Yes, the dim color of Pine was very lovely.)
Surely Ghost War should work as a big screen movie, then? Not really. There are exciting car chases and intense shootouts, and director Andrew Bernstein keeps everything moving quickly. But the film’s entertainment is woefully limited and small-screen-y, and it’s just a curious look at the rest of the world. The main climax takes place in a skyscraper that looks unknown under construction, which defeats the green against the original site, but not too much. Diehard fans of the show may find more joy in seeing Krasinski, Pierce, Kelly and Betty Gabriel return, or adding a more disabled Miller to the mix. This film creates the possibility of a continuation of the film. For the most part, Jack Ryan: Ghost War feels like a sad state of affairs for the fathers of the world (and fathers at heart), who had to see airport espionage brought to life on a smaller scale.
