Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Movie Reviews)

           

           

Captain Kirk stole Jack Ryan's clothes during his rendezvous in Moscow, Russia 

           

The newest installment of the Tom Clancy film series is a reboot of sorts. Since 2002’s The Sum Of All Fears starred Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan, eventual attempts to bring back the series didn’t as hoped for movie studio Paramount. Sam Raimi, who once helmed the original Spider-Man film series from 2002-2007, was tapped to direct the newest installment to give his fresh take on the series, but nothing turned up, because he was working on a potential fourth Spider-Man film, which, we now know as The Amazing Spider-Man, sans all of the Raimi-isms.

Chris Pine, who plays Captain James T Kirk in the Star Trek movies was on tap to be in the next version of this series in 2009, but had to commit to that film. Before Pine ever stepped foot into the shoes of the CIA fable, Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and the aforementioned Affleck portrayed the character. So how’s Pine in relation to his predecessors? Good enough for me. Frankly, I was surprised that he handled the weight of this person with care. I won’t say it was a transcending performance, but he was very good overall.  Some of the geopolitical stuff did go over my head a little and so did some of the book references, like when he and Cathy, played by Keira Knightley, meet for the first time, when Ryan is recouping from his severe injuries from a plane accident in Afghanistan. When witnessing the rebirth of a high-profile character like Ryan, especially, when you haven’t read the books, confusion is to be expected when you’re trying to figure out this universe. It wasn’t that the entire franchise was unfamiliar to me, I was just a little unaccustomed to some stuff here.

The plot, itself, has to do with Ryan working in a covert role at a stock exchange in New York. His job is to keep tabs on financial transactions from various parts of the world to make sure that the system isn’t being gamed from someone on the outside. Then, it’s discovered that a geopolitical partner goes in a different direction from that of the United States, Ryan realizes that the money from Russia (yeah, they’re in the news, a lot, these days) is being hidden from plain site. It’s an interesting angle that I wish went further in the closing minutes of the film, but it did its job. Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Costner play important roles here, with Branagh (who also directed this film) playing Viktor Cheverin, the person in control of the funds, while Costner plays a father figure type to Ryan. The acting is top-notch by entire cast. It’ll take time getting used to the actors playing these characters, if you haven’t followed the novels or  films, considering it took a while for this film to be developed, unfamiliarity is sure to be abound. It runs at a solid pace with some nice plot twists throughout the movie. In a time where the suspense genre needed something different, Shadow Recruit is the movie for you.

The Wolf of Wall Street (movie review)

     

"Dwarf Throwing" is a sport, as proven in "The Wolf of Wall Street"

     

     In just 8 minutes, I was locked into the crazy world of The Wolf of Wall Street, all three hours of it. Kind of crazy, that a movie like this flows, regardless of its ponderous length. People will probably complain about the time, but knowing the material it’s based on, there was probably no other way to convey this tale.

      Based on the book (and true story) of Jordan Belfort, who used to be a stock broker, was a mild-mannered man who wanted to have his own piece of Americana, even if it’s in the corrupt world of junk buying. His gift was selling people on the idea that if he sold people crap, customers would fall for his con so much, that they would have no choice but to buy what he sold to them, because he could. It earned him a lot of money, as well. To add to his legend, he was a womanizer, took copious amounts of drugs, committed numerous fraud counts, embezzlement, and was absorbed by the very thing that broke him, literally and figuratively: Greed. Aside from it bringing him all of the vanities and vices that it brought him, it eventually shattered his life, cost him his firm Stratton Oakmond, his family and his friends. 

      Leonardo DiCaprio does an amazing job as Belfort. Every time he lights up the screen in what seems like a comedy routine, but, really, it’s to showcase his lack of self-awareness as a human being. It should be noted that, this is the fifth pairing between Dicaprio and director Martin Scorsese since 2002’s Gangs of New York. Scorsese is still at his best when he’s getting the best out of the entire cast of this film and, it shows in the direction of every scene. The same credit should be shared for Jonah Hill as Donnie. Merely is he trying to make us laugh, as he is pretty much acting so well in a role that I wouldn't expect out of someone who’s this funny. He’s a wannabe dirt bag, like Belfort, and you can’t help but respect, how good he and DiCaprio are together as a tandem. The rest of the cast is excellent, as well, including performances by Matthew McCough Rob Reiner, Kyle Chandler, Jon Favreau and others. The shocking part about this movie is that it feels like a three hour sitcom combined with dramatic elements. Now, I doubt that was the intention here, but it’s honestly a poignant description for this movie and serves as to why this man lived the life that he did, really. If Wolf of Wall Street was merely a drama, it probably wouldn't work as well, since, melodrama has a tendency to be overbearing in moments. Wolf has these moments, but it's hardly noticeable.

The writing here is exceptional. So detailed and smooth in how many of the actors are reciting their lines in the movie.  There’s just too much excellence here for me to find anything bad here, really. So, I guess if I were to come up with one complaint for this movie, is that I wanted more, EVEN after the three hour trip. It’s just that good and it wouldn't surprise me if Scorsese, DiCaprio or even Jonah gets an Oscar nominations for their respective positions. Hopefully, the Oscars won’t snub another Oscar for Scorsese for something else, because it's not "serious" enough, but, 'oh well', if he doesn't get one.