How exactly am I supposed to feel when the hero runs down the bad guy and lights him on fire? And a bad guy middle man at that, neither one either calling the shots nor pulling the trigger. I suppose I feel the same way about torture: even if you’re doing it to a bad guy … even if it’s because loved ones were murdered … even if innocent lives are to be saved as a result … I lose all respect for the moral code that would allow for torture. Show me a torturer and I’ll show you a bully, a sadist; I don’t root for bullies.
And gosh, thank goodness the Russians are our enemies again, huh? It only took a piece-of-shit President and two heavily Russian-influenced campaigns backing him to get us around to the idea that we need to put Russia back in the bearhouse, but wasn’t it fun when we pretended Russia had our best interests at heart? Yeah, that was a lot of fun. It would be hard to say exactly the extent of the damage Russia has leveled upon the United States in the last half-decade, but let me put it this way: the reason your dumbass MAGA uncle thinks Trump beat Biden? That’s as much because of Russia as anything else.
The upside of evil Russia is that Tom Clancy is relevant again, woo! Lemme tell ya what a time Amazon has had adapting Jack Ryan exclusively to Middle Eastern causes. “Quick, Tom Clancy stooges, whom do we hate this week, but you can’t say ‘Russia?’ “ “Syrians!” “Democrats!” “Truth!” “Hmmm, I heard ‘Syrians.’ Syrians it is.”
Well, Syrians are back to being an opening act in Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, the story of a mission gone bad, the fallout, and the guy who is going to get his revenge if he has to destroy every Russian embassy limo from St. Louis to St. Stalingrad.
The problem with the Syrian mission was the distinct lack of Syrians. Navy Seal John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan) senses something wrong immediately, but it’s impossible getting their CIA escort (Jamie Bell) to own any responsibility on the intel. We aren’t terribly surprised when months after the Seals return home, Russians start assassinating mission members. Kelly is able to survive his attack, but the same cannot be said of his pregnant wife. At this moment, I could still have been a fan of the film. A wounded protagonist, a self-righteous cause, potential for some big action, sure, I was Without Remorse towards the end of Act I.
Then the film had a great deal of trouble identifying both a true villain and a justifiable course of action. And it didn’t really stop until people were done dying. Without Remorse is a film that constantly wants it both ways – we’re supposed to loathe the middleman John Kelly sets on fire, but perhaps sympathize with the trained assassin who actually killed Kelly’s wife and unborn daughter…we’re supposed to promote Kelly’s respect for human
life, yet have no problem with him blowing up random Russian soldiers just to provide a diversion. From the 30 minute mark to the ninety-minute mark, this film feels empty, simply an excuse to show off Jordan’s rockin’ bod and some remorseless action aimed at killing whomever seems like the bad guy at the moment. It isn’t until the dissatisfying reveal that we get back to something worth making a film about – a tie in to BLM that all-at-once justifies not having Jack Ryan as the Clancy protagonist.
Is that worth investing two hours of your life? I don’t think so, but then, I don’t think every Jack Ryan moment is a “must see,” either.
John Kelly was a Navy seal stud
Whose whole life got dragged through the mud
With nothing to believe in
It was time to get even
He will return from Russia with blood
Rated R, 109 Minutes
Director: Stefano Sollima
Writer: Taylor Sheridan and Will Staples
Genre: Guess who’s evil now
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: If you’re desperate for an action film, this will do
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People who like consistency in rooting interests
