'Jack Ryan: Ghost War' review: John Krasinski's middling foray into spy flicks
MANILA, Philippines — After four seasons on Prime Video, John Krasinski's take on "Jack Ryan" gets the feature treatment — albeit still on streaming.
"Jack Ryan: Ghost War" picks up after the events of the fourth and final season, where the titular character played by Krasinski opted out of being a CIA analyst to take up a job in Wall Street.
James Greer (Wendell Pierce), now the agency's deputy director, asks Ryan to join colleague Mike November (Michael Kelly) to meet a contact in Dubai. Both Pierce and Kelly reprise their small screen roles in the film.
Things go sideways for Ryan and November as they are apprehended by MI6 officer Emma Marlow (Sienna Miller), who reveals to them the existence of a black-ops program run by rogue soldier Liam Crown (Max Beesley), a former companion of Greer's.
The "Jack Ryan" franchise is best known as the adaptation from the popular book series by Tom Clancy. Clancy's other books, "The Hunt for Red October" and "Patriot Games," were also adapted in the 1990s.
Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, and Chris Pine portrayed Ryan on the big screen to diminishing returns, but finding a home on Prime Video sustained the character's popularity.
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The Prime show wrapped in 2023, but within a couple of years, "Ghost War" entered production to give Krasinski a shot at Jack Ryan in a feature film.
The new movie carries standard espionage-action as expected of a Clancy adaptation, though it never rises to a point where it warrants being anywhere else than a streaming service.
Numerous spy flicks in the past decade alone have tackled shadow terrorist groups to the point that attempting to make it the central plot again, while relevant, is beginning to feel redundant.
A car chase in London and an action-filled climax are among the film's highlights sustained by the performances of Krasinski, Pierce, Miller, and the always enjoyable Kelly.
It's also another stumble for Krasinski behind the camera as he co-wrote with Aaron Rabin and Noah Oppenheim, continuing his middling run of features outside of the "A Quiet Place" franchise, which will have another entry next year.
"Ghost War" does leave an opportunity for this version of Jack Ryan to pop again, but it remains to be seen where its creative team can go from here.
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