That happens all the time. Only the first and last Die Hard were written as Die Hard movies. The rest started as something else
If you had told me that was the plot for a gritty Hardy Boys reboot, I would’ve read the shit outta it, I bet.
“Fenton doesn’t need to know about this.”
I’m looking forward to this. I never really like Jeremy Renner in the Jason Bourne role. I only wish they could have gotten Matt Damon back.
I don’t understand this movie’s existence at all. The screenwriter basically created an original story, which Paramount bought and then turned into a “Jack Ryan” story.
It’s not like this is going to please Clancy fans, as it’s obviously non-canon. It’s sort of like taking a generic fantasy plot and slapping Harry Potter on it and expecting all the muggles to be ecstatic, when they all know better. And everyone who isn’t a Clancy fan obviously doesn’t care if the character is named Jack Ryan or Howitzer Explosion Guy.
I think “Jack Ryan: Howitzer Explosion Guy” scans better than “Howitzer Explosion Guy: Shadow Recruit.”
So I stated elsewhere that I thought the trailer misrepresented the action sequence with Ryan to make it seem much more superman Bourne-like than it actually was. After reading a review… eh. Sounds like it is a bit more that Ryan is some great hand-to-hand guy because he used to be a Marine. I only buy a bit of that.
It does have some of the same backstory as Ryan, becoming a Marine (this time because of 9/11), then getting in a helicopter crash and having to go through rehab, where he meets Cathy (which I’m totally sure this is canon but whatever at this point).
As for the gist of the movie itself, kinda goofy but supposedly not bad. Keira Knightley is apparently very under-utilized.
— Alan
At least in the books, Cathy is an eye surgeon, so…I don’t think she’d be treating him for spinal injuries due to falling out of a helicopter. :P
Oh yeah, forgot about that part.
— Alan
Maybe at the end of his fall he had an encounter with a pointy stick? The marines probably didn’t teach Jack how to fight against a pointy stick.
I’m bored. For anyone who has watched it, is this worth $6.75 at a matinee?
I liked the first third and the last third. So, I’d say $6.75 is on par.
Credentials: I have no idea who Jack Ryan is or where this “canon” debate is coming from. Also, I thought Jack Ryan looked like the guy from Love Actually who’s secretly into Keira Knightley. So the moment they met, I giggled, but I’m the only one who got the joke.
No, that’s the guy from The Walking Dead.
Plus I’m not even sure we can really refer to canon anymore since there was an interim movie (Sum of All Fears), not to mention the fact that Clancy is dead, so canon is kind of up in the air anyway.
— Alan
Thanks, fire. I will go check it out. It can’t be worse than “The Sum of All Fears.”
I take that back. I didn’t really like the last third. If you can find a coupon for a $3.50 matinee, you can walk out after the plane trip and have gotten your money’s worth. Ha ha!
Wouldn’t it be cool if movies worked like that.
I haven’t seen the movie yet so maybe there’s a twist somewhere, but I thought it odd that Clancy’s Jack Ryan marries a Brit, they cast Kiera Knightly but then make her a Yank. Especially since I heard Shadow Recruit includes some of the official canon where Jack starts in finance including some time in London.
I’ll also go out on a limb of stupid and say I might like Sum of All Fears more than Clear and Present Danger… but maybe that’s because I thought Clear and Present Danger was one of Clancy’s best (not really saying much I guess) that got really hosed over transitioning to a film where Sum wasn’t and felt good enough for the novel. I really didn’t like Ford’s Jack Ryan, that also might be what I’m reacting to.
Cathy has always been American.
Not in the books, and not in the film Hunt For Red October for the three seconds you hear her voice (or am I totally remembering wrong? Didn’t Gates McFadden put on an English accent?). She became american when she got a bigger role in Patriot Games. But again, I haven’t read Red October since forever.
Dude, she wasn’t British in the books. There’s not one hint of it. There’s no mention of her accent. Her dad is old school Wall Street. Her sister lives in Seattle (and mothered the Caruso brothers of the latter novels).
Gates McFadden was in HFRO for all of about 10 seconds.
Kelly Wand’s synopsis was totally worth sitting through the movie.