The Cold War is long gone, but its impact on culture has not yet weakened. In recent years, many popular spy novels of that period have been filmed in the United States. The plot of some of them (“Spy, Get Out!”) Turns into a script for a motion picture, having undergone minimal changes. And others adapt to modern reality. The latter includes the movie Jack Ryan: Chaos Theory. Despite the constellation of wonderful actors who played in it, as well as good box office, this project was the weakest in the entire series of films about the adventures of Jack Ryan.
A little bit about the main character
Jack Ryan (photo below) is a character coined by renowned American novelist Tom Clancy. The author has dedicated more than a dozen works to him, many of which have been made into films. At the moment, 5 films have been shot about this hero in which various actors played him: “The Hunt for Red October” (Alec Baldwin), “Games of the Patriots” and “Direct and Explicit Threat” (Harrison Ford), “The Price of Fear” (Ben Affleck) and Jack Ryan: Chaos Theory (Chris Pine).
As for the character’s biography, it’s known that John Patrick Ryan, commonly called Jack, was born in Baltimore in 1950.
He was educated at Boston College. Jack planned to become a marine, but during one of the training flights he was injured and retrained as an investment broker. He was later recruited by the CIA, where he was a consultant for a long time. Ryan specialized in the USSR, and later in the Russian Federation. With its help, many conspiracies against the United States from various countries were prevented.
Over time, Jack became president of the United States and served in this post for two terms.
As for his personal life, having met in his youth with a student-intern from the medical university Carolina "Katie" Muller, Jack started an affair with her, and eventually got married. In this marriage 4 children were born.
Movie Information
In 2014, the fifth picture about the bold CIA analysts was released. In the original, she bore a slightly different name: "Jack Ryan: Mercenary of the Shadow."
After the success of the previous film about this character (earned three times more at the box office than they invested in it), the producers dreamed of making another tape. However, due to problems with financing, as well as with the search for a director, only in 2008 began work on preparations for the shooting.
If the previous films of the cycle were shot based on the novels of Tom Clancy, then for the new project Adam Kozad and David Kepp wrote the original script, which used elements of Ryan's biography. Perhaps that is why, despite the excellent directorial work of Kenneth Branagh and good training, this film is recognized as the weakest among the entire series.
Jack Ryan: Chaos Theory: Story
At the beginning of the film, a brief description of the hero’s biography is given before he was recruited by the CIA. Later, the action is postponed in 2014, when Jack Ryan works in one of the investment companies in New York, and at the same time advises the CIA.
Examining the accounts of Russian oligarch Viktor Cherevin, collaborating with their company, Ryan notices suspicious activity.
Later, he reports to the CIA that he suspects the Russian special services in preparing a large-scale operation designed to destroy the US economy.
To confirm his suspicions, Jack Ryan goes to Moscow with the goal of being an employee of the partner company to audit the financial accounts of Cherevin and obtain evidence.
In Moscow, they try to kill the hero, and then they interfere with the verification. Then, with the help of his CIA curator Thomas Harper and bride Katie, he steals data about the upcoming sabotage from Cherevin’s computer.
However, returning to his homeland, Jack suspects that the oligarch’s son plans to commit a terrorist act that will provoke a fall in the US economy. Risking his life, the hero manages to stop the terrorist at the last moment, thereby disrupting the entire operation.
Criticism of the movie
Despite the fact that the film doubled at the box office the money spent on it, critics reacted rather coldly to it.
First of all, the script itself caused complaints, which could not be compared with the books of Tom Clancy. The original works about Jack Ryan were distinguished not only by an exciting plot, but also by carefully prescribed technical details, which cannot be said about the script of the picture "Jack Ryan: Theory of Chaos." So, the heroes penetrate the Chereven computer system through the wiring, which seems crazy to any person who is at least a little familiar with the PC device.
No less funny is the Russian Negro killer who came to kill Ryan in a Moscow hotel.
While in the USA an African American is a normal occurrence, in the Russian Federation so far a person with such an appearance is unlikely to be invisible, which is necessary for a hired killer to be successful in his profession.
Also striking is the flaw in special effects and battle scenes. It’s a rather silly situation when Jack Ryan smashes the bullet-proof glass of an oligarch’s armored car with a stick, or Chereven’s attempt to torture his lover with an energy-saving light bulb. And the hastily painted landscapes of Moscow on a computer, as well as the explosion in New York generally give the impression of a very cheap movie.
Advantages of the movie
Despite the many minuses, this movie has its pluses. These include a wonderful selection of actors.
Also, one cannot fail to note the good music written especially for the painting by Patrick Doyle.
Despite the many absurdities associated with the writers' attempts to realistically depict life in the Russian Federation, a dialogue between Katie and Chereveny, in which they discuss Lermontov's poetry, stands out pleasantly.
Jack Ryan - the hero of the film "Chaos Theory" performed by Chris Payne (Payne)
This artist became the fourth performer of the role of Jack Ryan in history. It is worth noting that the choice was successful.
The actor managed to portray a sort of scout, forced to act not according to the charter. Of course, he is inferior to Harrison Ford, who played in two films of the series, but at the same time surpasses Ben Affleck. Most likely, Chris got this role because of the outward resemblance to the first performer - Alec Baldwin.
Prior to this project, Payne became famous thanks to his participation in various television series (Ambulance, Defender, Client is Always Dead), as well as romantic comedies (Princess Diaries 2: How to Become a Queen, Kiss for Good Luck, and Date) blindly ”). Later, from the lovers' heroes, Chris Payne retrained for just heroes ("Uncontrollable", "So, War").
Recently, the actor is most famous for participating in the films of the Star Trek series.
Keira Knightley as Katie Muller
Another star in this project, which was supposed to attract the attention of viewers, was the British Kira (Keira) Knightley.
Like Payne, she was taken on this role due to similarities with
Bridget Moynahan and Anne Archer, who played Katie in previous films. The actress did not bring anything particularly new to the image of her heroine, while quite organically playing her.
Prior to participating in the project, Knightley became famous thanks to a series of paintings “Pirates of the Caribbean”, as well as her roles in costume dramas (“Pride and Prejudice”, “Duchess”, “Atonement”, “Anna Karenina”).
Other actors
In addition to Knightley and Payne, other famous actors starred in the film. One of them was Kevin Costner - the star of the militants of 80-90. He played the mentor of Ryan - Thomas Harper.
It is also worth noting the director of the picture - Sir
Kenneth Branagh. As the leader of the entire filming process, he tried to do everything possible to make a good film, and most of the sins of the project are not his fault. By the way, the director himself played in the film the role of the main villain - Victor Cherevin.
Although, according to the plot, many scenes take place in Moscow, there are only two Russian actors in the project. This is a young actress Elena Velikanova and the legendary ballet dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.
The film "Jack Ryan: Theory of Chaos", despite the good acting, is rather weak. However, due to good box office, in the future, it may be withdrawn its continuation.