Chris Pine stars in “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” an action thriller about a young covert CIA analyst who uncovers a Russian plot to crash the U.S. economy with a terrorist attack. (Photo credit: AP photo by Paramount Pictures, Larry Horricks)

‘Jack Ryan’ doesn’t break new ground, entertaining anyways

Who needs the Cold War for a movie in 2014 to have Russia as the bad guy? Not “Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit,” that’s for sure. I guess America has a penchant for vilifying Mother Russia.

Which isn’t completely unrealistic. Today’s cooled geopolitical relations between the United States and Russia allows for a dash of believability as Tom Clancy’s famous CIA analyst travels to Russia to unravel an insidious plot.

Taking the helm this time around, Chris Pine stars as the titular character. Former leads have included Alec Baldwin (“The Hunt for Red October”), Harrison Ford (“Patriot Games,” “Clear and Present Danger”) and Ben Affleck (“The Sum of All Fears”).

This reboot of our analytical, capable hero has Ryan navigating between worlds of international espionage in why that’s somehow decently realistic. You don’t confuse him without spies such as Bond or Bourne, and that’s a good thing. He’s his own character, an anxious patriot doing what’s he thinks is best.

Click here to read the rest of the review at TDN.com.

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