Jack Ryan

Any season of Homeland is at least a level up in terms of direction, story and acting. As a political thriller, this is mediocre at best. As a Tom Clancy series, it's absurdly bad. (2018.09.01)

The modern Jack Ryan has, unsurprisingly, little to do with any of Clancy's characters and draws inspiration from Homeland or Hayes' Pilgrim. Which is not necessarily the bad thing. The advantage is that because it only has eight episodes, it is very goal-oriented. At the same time, Amazon paid a lot of attention to its flagship (until the arrival of The Lord of the Rings) (except for Clark's absence for licensing reasons), did not skimp on production, so it looks excellent in terms of narrative, cast and performance (Pierce is an excellent Greer and Hoogenakker “Clark"), it's not offensive black and white, it has a respectable charismatic antagonist with clear motivation, it can be properly exciting, full of action and uncompromising, the bets are tangible and ... And it's a solid spy thriller that used to be on the silver screen at the time. The most controversial point is undoubtedly Krasinski in the lead role. It's true that it doesn't fit in with Ryan's “Ford-Baldwin" old-school news editor, but this is a completely different view of Ryan, and he'll sit in that position no matter how he excels. It is a solid craft in all aspects. Perhaps they just played it too safe (especially in the shadow of the masterpieces à la Le Bureau des Légendes). But at the same time, this is exactly what one would expect and demand. Except in the form of a twenty-four too long final. | S1: 3/5 | S2: 3/5 | (2018.08.31)

A solid political thriller starring the likable John Krasinski. I like the guy more from film to film, but I think he looks better with a beard, here he was a little too slick, but he does an extraordinary job throughout the series and draws full attention to himself. Suleiman, the villain, was also good and I liked the actual war with Islam a lot. Visually it feels more like a film production than a series and for that a big plus. There is not much action and the best shootout comes in the first episode, but I didn't mind it so much, as there are interesting issues being dealt with all the time (e.g. the final episodes with the Ebola), and the tension and pace are nice. I got through the eight episodes in two sittings and I certainly don't regret the time spent. I'll happily watch a second season. 80%. (2018.09.11)