There was a time when the name Tom Clancy really generated excitement for me as a moviegoer. I grew up on the early Jack Ryan films and still remember them fondly. I was also immune to those films' politics -- or rather Clancy's -- which were far more right wing than my own.
Today, it feels a little strange to be revisiting his oeuvre, given the current geopolitical climate. I haven't seen the Jack Ryan television series, starring John. Kransinski, so I am not sure how it fares, but the new movie Without Remorse doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel.
The producers had the good sense to cast Michael B. Jordan, in the decidedly anglo named character John Kelly. He's a prototypical Clancy hero type -- taciturn, efficient and far from fully fleshed out. And yet, Jordan is such an empathetic actor, he makes what largely feel like a forgettable exercise in style worth watching.
It's a brooding, bleak movie -- heavy on shadowy sets and even more shadowy characters. There are double crosses, lots of gunplay and an overly plotty script that I found hard to invest in. At its center is a particularly grisly murder which sets Jordan's character off on a revenge plot, but unlike the John Wick films, which have a welcome sense of humor, Without Remorse is a somber affair, and therefore a bit of a drag.
Jordan isn't given much to do besides look and act badass, which he does ably, but he's a more interesting actor than that. He doesn't really play a character here, he plays a type, and it's a type I feel like I've seen before in better movies.
There are some very nifty action scenes and the movie looks great for the most part (albeit a bit too dark at times) but it doesn't really amount to much. There are occasional ambiguous nods to cynicism about America and what it means for these kinds of tough guys (and gals, Jodie Turner Smith pops up as one of Jordan's compatriots) to serve -- but I never fully understood what the film wanted to say and to whom.
As for Jordan, this isn't a step back for his progression as a star as it is kind of a holding pattern. He's lost none of his cool and presence as an actor, but it'd be good to see him stretch a little more the next time he gets a leading role.
It might be interesting to see him play a lighter role, maybe even a full blown comedy, especially after starring in this dreary affair, which is decidedly downbeat and rather joyless.
The best revenge movies, even if they are grim like this one is, still have a kind of gallows humor and satisfying punch to them, but because Jordan's foes are so murky and ill-defined, you never get that cathartic thrill of them getting their just desserts.
This even comes with a sequel set up that no one really asked for. I didn't have high expectations for this so I didn't walk away supremely let down, but I just want better for Michael B. Jordan, since he's one of the last great new movie stars we have,
No comments:
Post a Comment