Hello everybody and welcome to a new 2021 movie review! For this one I will be checking out the newest Tom Clancy adaptation, Without Remorse, which debuted on Amazon Prime early last year. For those who don’t know, Tom Clancy was a very influential novelist who mainly wrote stories related to espionage and the military that often took place during and after the Cold War. He is known for his work across several mediums from TV to video games (which often were inspired by his work or endorsed by him) to of course film. His most popular creation, arguably, is the character of CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, who has been the center of so many of his novels and as well as plenty of successful movies as well. However this time instead of Ryan himself the cinematic spotlight shifts to another famous character from the Clancyverse former Navy SEAL, John Clark who has previously been portrayed onscreen by Willem Dafoe and Liev Schreiber. Now it’s Michael B. Jordan’s time to shine as the character and as someone who is a fan of the Jack Ryan movies, I think it is really neat seeing this character get his own feature as he is among the more interesting characters in the films he is in. So how did this potential franchise starter fare for me? Well okay for the most part (if fairly run of the mill) with a few stand out elements. Let’s see the things this origin got right and what left a bit to be desired as we delve into the world of military espionage.
The film kicks off with a rescue sequence in Syria where a team of US Navy SEALs, which includes Senior Chief Petty Officer John Kelly, have to retrieve a CIA operative from the hands of a paramilitary group. During the operation they find out that the captors are actually a part of the Russian military, something Kelly is shocked to find out about. We cut to three months later where Kelly is enjoying his life with his pregnant wife Pam as they get ready to have their first child. Little does he know that the Russians have been sending operatives to kill the members of the team who were involved in the operation as way of a retaliation. When they get to John’s house he is able to kill all but one of them but ends up severely wounded and losing his wife and unborn child in the process. After recovering from his wounds Kelly sets out to get revenge on those who wronged him, in the process discovering there is a larger conspiracy at play that could potentially lead to all out war between the U.S. and Russia.
Right off the bat the film kicks off with a really solid set up concerning Kelly’s revenge mission that I thought was built up nicely up to his family getting killed and I was able to get hooked into the proceedings early on. I can’t say I was necessarily bored throughout the rest movie, but after the inciting incidents things fall into a familiar pattern as we see John go about unraveling this whole conspiracy at play. Granted there was enough regarding the political conspiracy and how the CIA and John would go about teaming up to find out what’s really going on, to keep me fairly interested as I do like these types of stories. I also liked how the movie does touch upon certain ideas such as the relations between countries and the grey area that goes with it, something that is fascinating to explore even if it is a pretty standard exploration of that subject matter. Still the main revenge story is done in a manner that isn’t necessarily new as it goes through the expected beats and the main mystery goes in a familiar direction in terms of who is behind it and the twists are pretty obvious especially when it comes to the identity of the mole. Another aspect that does hold the movie back for me is the pacing would slow down whenever there would be conversations between government officials largely because it is a lot of exposition that isn’t really delivered in an interesting manner which is prevalent in the first act especially. However things do pick up once John and his team go on their mission as that section ended up being the highlight thanks to the action and high tension that is present and the film does end off in a way that makes sense for the character’s arc and it does set up a potentially cool idea for the follow up. So while nothing I found particularly great about the story it is still fairly serviceable even if I feel like the execution could have been more (weird considering how well Sheridan has written stories with familiar subject matter before).
While the story could have been improved I will say I was quite impressed by the action sequences here and it is here where the feature shines. Director, Stephen Sollima, goes for a more realistic approach here as there is a neat utilization of military tactics and combat techniques by those involved in the action where they would do different formations. It makes the proceedings feel like we are watching an actual military operation unfold and seeing what the soldiers would do and even certain sounds like the noise the guns make add to this even more. This is most apparent in the opening siege which is a really good way to start the film and it does the job in showing off John’s skills as a soldier. I guess my personal favorite sequence would have to be the climactic shoot out in Russia which takes place in an old building for the reasons I just mentioned and that it is a well done shoot out that is shot clearly where the audience can see everything despite the fact that it takes place at night and smoke often covers the screen thanks to fire. Plus it can get pretty brutal to the point where it really feels like Kelly is doing a suicide mission and is fighting to the last breath in order to buy time for his team to get out. It is pretty relentless, but also exciting and well crafted and it is the highlight of the movie for me for those reasons. Sollima was also smart to space out the action enough so that it doesn’t feel repetitive and each one serves it’s purpose. The rest of his direction is fine for the most part and he is able to bring some tension to certain non action beats (like when Kelly lights a car on fire and goes inside to confront the passenger) but it is in the action where he truly succeeds and it is a stand out element of the film.
For me though, what really elevates this movie for me is Michael B. Jordon showing just how great of a leading actor he is. It is no surprise that he plays the trained soldier/killer type very well, commanding the proceedings whenever he is onscreen and while stoic most of the time, he does an excellent job of tapping into the characters humanity and tragic nature. In his interactions with Pam (Lauren London doing well despite limited screentime) one can sympathize with this former soldier turned family man who just wants to leave his old life behind making the inevitable event all the more tragic and I can buy this man having nothing left to lose and do what he does throughout the film as well as his reasons for being suspicious of those around him. This type of arc isn’t exactly new but Jordon sells it and shows off his immense talents. Heck I think it’s neat that he now has a action potential franchise (if this gets sequel) for the taking if he so wishes and I would be down for seeing him in this role again as I like what he did here. Surrounding him is a cast full of solid character actors although for the most part none of them really stood out in a particular way and mainly are there to explain certain things regarding the plot. Out of them all Jodie Turner-Smith gets a little bit more to do as Kelly’s former commanding officer, Karen, as she has some interesting interactions with Kelly and I would have liked to have seen more of them together. Other than her there’s Guy Pearce as the Secretary of Defense, Thomas Clay, and Jamie Bell as CIA officer, Robert Ritter, who are both fine in their respective roles even though they’re not given much to work with beyond giving exposition and pretty big spoiler here but they are pretty much the only two people one would suspect to be the mole and as the movie goes on it becomes increasingly apparent just what is really going on in terms of their allegiances. Again I’d say that just adds to the problem regarding the mystery the film tries to portray regarding who is behind these intel leaks and I wish that aspect could have been more investing.
While I certainly think Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse could have been stronger, I still enjoyed it well enough for the most part. I do think the mystery could have been more interesting, it goes through many expected beats in these types of stories, the exposition scenes hurt the pacing, and the supporting cast as talented as they are aren’t given a lot to dig into. Still I was invested enough to see what would happen, it does get better as it goes along, the action is really well done, and Michael B. Jordon carries it so darn well. So a pretty standard action movie overall with some great touches here and there that make me hopeful that a follow up does happen as I can see one improving upon this and it’s nice to see Michael B. Jordan have another franchise under his belt.
Rating: B-
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