BEFORE: I suppose I could have made a connection between "Ripley's Game" and this film, sharing a word in the title, but I'm happy with the order I originally planned, and saw no need to switch things up. I'm skipping "The Hunt for Red October" since I've seen it before, and moving on with the continuity-challenged adventures of Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan.
THE PLOT: When CIA Analyst Jack Ryan interferes with an IRA assassination, a renegade faction targets him and his family for revenge.
AFTER: At the start of the film, Jack Ryan (now played by Harrison Ford, last seen in "Hollywood Homicide") is already retired from the CIA, but the events which follow lead to his return to the agency. While on vacation with his wife and daughter, he witnesses an attempt by the IRA to kidnap a member of the royal family, and he jumps into the situation, proving that you can take the man out of the spy game, but you can't take the spy game out of the man.
The rest of the film concerns one of the terrorists seeking revenge on Ryan and his family, and what Ryan does in response. Pretty formulaic, but still rather exciting.
Now, if I found out that I and my family were under attack from a terrorist, I'd consider moving, or at least a long vacation, and maybe an unlisted phone number - but not Jack Ryan. No, he keeps on living in plain sight - was this stupid, or a clever attempt to draw the terrorists right to him? I'm just not sure...
Interesting that the film stars 2 past and 1 future "Star Wars" actors in major roles, and I'm wondering if that's some kind of record...
Also starring Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin, Sean Bean (last seen in "Ronin"), James Earl Jones (last seen in "The Meteor Man"), Samuel L. Jackson (last seen in "The Negotiator"), Thora Birch (last seen in "Dungeons & Dragons") and Richard Harris.
RATING: 7 out of 10 satellite images
No comments:
Post a Comment