Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse

While the plot to this thriller is fairly generic, Tom Clancy’s trademarked flair for combining political intrigue with military-based action elevates the material, and Michael B. Jordan makes for an engaging (and hopefully franchise-spawning) hero.

Premise: Following the successful rescue of a hostage in Syria, John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan) and his Navy SEAL team find themselves targeted for reprisals after they arrive back on US soil. John swears to take revenge on the perpetrators, either with or without the help of his commanding officer Lieutenant Commander Karen Greer (Jodie Turner-Smith), the Secretary of Defense Thomas Clay (Guy Pearce) or shady CIA man Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell).

Review:

On paper, this film sounds like a very clichéd revenge thriller, where the protagonist goes on a violent rampage to avenge the death of a loved one. But in this case, that really is only part of the story. Yes, John Kelly’s (Michael B. Jordan) pregnant wife is killed early on in what could be argued to be little more than a “fridging” to give his character something to avenge, but it’s where the story goes from there that really makes it interesting.

Of course, with this being an action thriller based on a Tom Clancy novel, there’s only so much I can say about where the film goes after its initial set-up without straying into spoiler territory. Suffice to say, if you’ve ever read a Tom Clancy novel or seen any of their movie adaptations, you probably know to expect a fair amount of twists and turns before the end credits (some of which, I have to say, were far more predictable than others).

“…the action scenes combine military professionalism, coherent strategy & a little Hollywood embellishment…”

Both the novel and the film Without Remorse serve as an origin story for the character John Clark (aka John Kelly), who is Tom Clancy’s most famous creation after Jack Ryan. John Clark has already appeared on the big screen twice (played by Willem Dafoe in 1994’s Clear and Present Danger and by Liev Schreiber in 2002’s The Sum of All Fears), but as neither of those films shared a common continuity (either between each other, or with this film), Without Remorse is effectively starting with a clean slate.

Whereas Willem Dafoe’s Clark was an ex-CIA mercenary, and Liev Schreiber’s version was a CIA covert operative, Michael B. Jordan takes the character all the way back to his pre-CIA, military roots. The opening action sequence – a Navy SEALs incursion into hostile territory in Syria to rescue a high-value hostage – sets the tone for much of the action that follows, with its combination of military professionalism (everyone seems to actually know what to do in a crisis, which isn’t always the case in action films), coherent strategy and tactics, and a little Hollywood embellishment (such as a cool move where Michael B. Jordan uses his knife and pistol to great effect). But perhaps we should have expected nothing less from director Stefano Sollima, who filmed some great, gritty action sequences in Sicario 2: Soldado, and Taylor Sheridan, writer of the Sicario films as well as the excellent Hell or High Water and Wind River. The action sequence in the third act, for example, could sound quite anticlimactic on paper, but the filmmakers crank up the tension with real tactical considerations (like lines of sight, and the need to find suitable cover) which bring the scene to life.

“…Michael B. Jordan balances all the various elements of John Clark’s buttoned-down personality…”

That’s not to say that the film is perfect by any stretch, and there are some action beats that almost feel like you’re watching someone play Call of Duty, a situation which perhaps isn’t helped by the fact that the film was co-written by Will Staples (an actual co-writer of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3), and the score from Icelandic composer Jónsi often sounds like a videogame soundtrack. As I mentioned above, the film is also hampered by the fact that one particular plot development was so obvious, I would have been more surprised if the plot twist hadn’t happened as expected.

But the cast do a good job with what they have to play with. Michael B. Jordan makes a great lead, balancing all the various elements of John Clark’s buttoned-down personality – his calmness under pressure, his devastation at his personal loss, and his strategic acumen. The film’s weakest patch is its middle section (the one that adheres most closely to the “revenge flick” template), but Michael B. Jordan gets plenty to do either side of that. While there aren’t many female characters in the film (John Clark’s wife is never really developed as a character), Jodie Turner-Smith makes a real impression as Clark’s commanding officer Karen Greer (the niece of James Greer, famously played by James Earl Jones in the Harrison Ford-starring Jack Ryan films). Jamie Bell also brings the necessary air of duplicity and secrecy to the role of the shadowy CIA figure Robert Ritter.

“…despite this film’s flaws, I would happily watch Michael B. Jordan’s John Clark on a second mission…”

Overall, there’s no escaping the fact that the film is fairly generic for the most part – but it’s never boring or unwatchable. If you’re not in the mood to give the film the benefit of the doubt, you’re probably going to find the film fairly uninspiring – but what bumps it up a level for me are the performances from the cast, and the third act action sequences and developments, which showed a bit more originality than the earlier sections.

You should also make sure you stay for a mid-credits sequence, which is designed to lead into the proposed second film in the John Clark series. Despite this film’s flaws, I would happily watch Michael B. Jordan’s John Clark on a second mission, and I look forward to hopefully seeing where he can take the character from here.