Amazon Prime series - Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

If you are familiar with novelist Tom Clancy's fictional literature about international conspiracies and military action thrillers, you will definitely know about the Jack Ryan anthology of books. These novels tell the adventures of a Jack Ryan, a character who started out as a lowly analyst behind a desk in the CIA that gradually rose to prominence in the covert intelligence community and ultimately to a position of great influence and power.

These books have since been adapted into a collection of films over the last 28 years, with difference actors playing the Ryan character:

• The Hunt for Red October - Alec Baldwin
• Patriot Games - Harrison Ford
• Clear and Present Danger - Harrison Ford
• The Sum of All Fears - Ben Affleck
• Jack Ryan : Shadow Recruit - Chris Pine

Image credit :  Paramount Pictures/Sunset Boulevard/Corbis @ digitalspy.com

SPOILER WARNING - PROCEED WITH CAUTION!!

The latest actor to join the list is John Krasinski, who plays the role in the new, and first, TV series made for Amazon Prime called Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan (TCJR).

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

Like Chris Pine's Shadow Recruit, the first season of TCJR, released on the 31st August 2018, is an origin story for the character that takes place in a more modern global setting compared to it's source material. The titular character's background story stays mostly faithful to the books with some minor changes, this time he is chasing after a violent Jihadist figurehead who is more than just a typical terrorist.

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

As far as the narrative of the first season goes, the over-arching story of spy-chasing-after-terrorist feels familiar, with common troupes that you would expect from shows of such genres. The pacing is quite relentless but not confusing, with fair measure of character development moments although most of it rely on exposition instead of actions by the characters. 

The writing is intelligent and always managed to keep things interesting, but some parts are kinda tedious for me, especially the part depicting the the journey of the villain's wife and daughters as they escape from their evil patriarch. 

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

There is also a subplot of a remorseful drone pilot who traveled to Syria seeking redemption, because he blew up an innocent man due to bad intelligence. I found his arch to be even more interesting than the overall story, yet even though he did finally made some amends to the family of the man, I felt his tread was left hanging and not concluded satisfactorily. I hope they continue to tell his story in the subsequent season(s).

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

Even though he made his name in the comedy series The Office, John Krasinski is a very decent serious actor. I know so because I saw A Quiet Place, in which he directed and acted brilliantly. But it seems he was being held back by the writing in TCJR, because for most of the season he has exhibited the emotional range of a cardboard. His portrayal of the character is a noticeable departure from those in the film - here he is stoic, quiet and rather clumsy when communicating his thoughts. It's not that it is bad - a lesser actor would have easily over-acted those rare emotional vignettes, just that I think it is a bit overdone on the part of the writers.

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

The supporting casts such as Wendell Pierce playing the pragmatic Jim Greer, Ali Suliman's villainous Mousa Bin Suleiman, Abby Cornish the love interest Cathy Mueller, John Magaro the morally torn Victor Polizzi and Dina Shihabi's desperate Hanin Ali who is Suleiman's wife - are all excellent in their roles and if I may say so, more interesting than Krasinski's Ryan.

Image credit : Genre Arts/Push, Boot/Platinum Dunes/Skydance Media/Paramount Television/Amazon Studios

If I made it sound that this show is a dis-service to the Jack Ryan's character, it really is not. The production value and quality of writing is definitely worthy of the property, just that this is kind of a different Jack Ryan I'm used to in the other films. 

If you are a Tom Clancy fan, or a fan of spy thrillers with heavy doses of international intrigue, you must not miss this series.