Michael B. Jordan starrer “Without Remorse” is a surprisingly dull adaptation of Clancy’s 1993 novel.
The film contains breath-taking action and Michael B. Jordan being magnificent as always. But it treads determinedly a meaningless plot.
Philip Noyce has done excellent adaptations of Tom Clancy’s books, Clear and Present Danger and Patriot Games – can Harrison Ford be any more Jack Ryan?
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse is set in 1970s. It shows a Navy Seal John Kelly smashing drug rings and releasing prisoners from Vietnam. Now, the movie has been brought to the present.
In the novel the opening is done with a prologue in Aleppo, Syria, and making reference to the Russian military presence in the country.
But the movie is dated to a barely post-Cold War period, while the plot mechanics grind along like holdovers from Charles Bronson’s heyday.
Theme
Michael B. Jordan will be seen playing the role of John Kelly, a Navy SEAL. So, Kelly and his team went to Syria to rescue a C.I.A. operative who was held captive.
His pregnant wife (Lauren London) was killed when Russian operatives invaded their home, so as to terminate him. Two other soldiers who were with Kelly on the mission in Syria were also killed.
Kelly wanted revenge for his wife’s death. To do so he was helped by a sympathetic colleague from the SEALs ( Jodie Turner-Smith) and the defense secretary (Guy Pearce).
But a C.I.A. official (Jamie Bell) gets peeved. This signals its viewers that maybe he’s secretly working for the other side.
The movie comprises of three set pieces – an ambush outside Dulles airport; a creatively executed hostage-taking at a prison; a plane crash.
“Without Remorse” seems to be more concerned about the franchise’s foundation than being exciting on its own terms.
Jordan makes a hard-hitting action hero, but the character as portrayed doesn’t give him any outlines to play.
