Guys need to read more. I understand the irony of that statement as I begin an article telling you you need to drop whatever you are doing on Wednesday, 5/20, to watch a movie. But the origins of John Krasinski’s new movie, Jack Ryan: Ghost War, begin when I was a year old. When Tom Clancy published the first Jack Ryan novel, The Hunt for Red October. What happened after that was a lifetime of novels, of which five of them were made into movies, where the likes of Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine took on the role. The latter of which was in a film not based on any of the two dozen-plus books. But this generation was gifted a new Jack Ryan, John Krasinski (The Office, A Quiet Place).
And on Wednesday, we get a possible final look at his take on the character, one that changed the landscape of TV for men. I got an opportunity to attend the premiere in Times Square and here is my spoiler-free review of the film.
A different take on Jack Ryan
The first season of Krasinski’s series landed in 2018, four years after Chris Pine’s attempt at launching a new franchise of films fell flat. Interestingly enough, a lot was going on that I, a fan of the character, felt hesitant about. For one, Jim Halpert was taking on the role. While there were some similarities between Halpert and Ryan (both were intelligent and somewhat gentle souls), Ryan has a harder edge and would need to scuffle on occasion. Harrison Ford was my Jack Ryan, and I wouldn’t hear anything different. Then there was the plot. Out of the dozens of books in the series, Amazon chose zero of them to have a plot worth adapting. This, in my opinion, was one of the reasons Pine’s version wasn’t memorable.
However, what we got was a bulked-up Krasinski and a plot that was more relevant in today’s world. James Greer, played by legend Wendall Pierce (Suits, The Wire), was a darker character with a Muslim twist. And, Ryan was more prone to going off-book instead of the strict rule-follower that he had always been. Different doesn’t always mean bad. In this instance, different was better. And they capitalized on that for four seasons, leading up to this film. By the time this film is over, you will start to recognize the men you have always known and loved from the books.
The cast found who they were
Jack Ryan became the moral core of the in-universe cast. With James Greer having a dark and shadowy past (something that weighs heavily on the plot of this film) and the rest of the intelligence world navigating the darker corners of right and wrong, Ryan is the leader of the group in rectifying everything that went wrong. But there is another character who shines brighter than everyone around them. Mike November, played by Michael Kelly (House of Cards, Lioness), is the heart of this movie. He is funny, smart, capable, and everything that a politically charged action film needs to make it a perfect escape. The inclusion of Emma Marlow, played by Sienna Miller (Layer Cake, American Sniper), is one of the stronger points of this movie as well. She offers a MI6 counterpart to Ryan. Focused, gritty, off-book, and morally centered.
The result is a well-paced, thought-out, and expertly executed film that pays tribute to the late Tom Clancy without rehashing any old tropes from the series and blazing a new path. While this may be a finale (if I had my way, Krasinski isn’t finished until he becomes [book spoiler] President Jack Ryan), I think this perfectly sets the tone for a new series of in-universe novels and spin-offs for Mike November. Let’s also not forget Michael B. Jordan (Sinners, Creed) is also playing a Tom Clancy character, and they need to show up together soon.
How Jack Ryan changed everything
Ok, I may be a bit dramatic (I think all writers have a flair for the dramatic), but this is a show that changed the landscape of television for men everywhere. We don’t read enough. And when we do, we tend to focus on biographies, WWII histories, or books promising to teach you how to make more money. There is nothing wrong with that, but we don’t escape often enough. We watch action flicks because they are the perfect escape for us guys. James Bond, Jason Bourne, Ethan Hunt, and John Wick are all male fantasies. Save the world at all costs. But we don’t read it enough. We should, because the success of shows like Reacher, Cross, Bosche, The Lincoln Lawyer, and The Terminal List all prove that we love these characters. And they are just scratching the surface of the characters we can find in
What do all of those shows above have in common? They took what John Krasinski did with Jack Ryan and used it as a template to find their own success. Other favorites of mine, like Jack Reacher and James Reese, wouldn’t be on Prime Video if it weren’t for the work Krasinski put into the character of Jack Ryan. I told him as much, then I did the fan thing and got a pic. John Krasinski may not be changing the world the same way Jack Ryan does in Jack Ryan: Ghost War, but he propelled the world forward for all of us fans of the bang-bang shoot’em up movies and books, adding a little commentary and depth. Including the best line in the movie that I haven’t been able to get out of my brain (delivered to perfection by Pierce; “Walking out of the darkness and walking into the light aren’t the same thing.”
Jack Ryan: Ghost War is available to stream on Prime Video Wednesday 5/20.
