Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Pulled from it's plumb Christmas Day scheduled release date to be dumped in the middle of the graveyard of January and February, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit came and went without much fanfare. Although pulling in more than $135 million worldwide the movie underachieved based on its original planned release and met with mixed reaction from both critics and fans.

Rebooting the long-dominant Jack Ryan series, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit cast Chris Pine in the role of Jack Ryan. I enjoyed the film, and found it more memorable than either of Harrison Ford's offerings or the Ben Affleck 2002 attempt to reboot the franchise.

Bringing in Keira Knightley as Ryan's girlfriend, Kevin Costner as his CIA mentor, and Kenneth Branagh to do double duty both as the film's villain and director, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit offers a solid cast for an old school thriller.

Along with setting up Jack Ryan's origins and recruitment into the CIA, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit focuses on the thinking man's action hero's trip to Russia to try and uncover and prevent a terrorist attack on the United States. Producing its share of action and intrigue the film is a good, but not great, action thriller. Those who missed it in the theater should definitely check it out. For more on the movie check out my original review.

The Blu-ray includes audio commentary from Branagh and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura, DVD and digital copies of the film, and features on the character and making of the film, action scenes, Branagh's direction, and the choice of Russians as the movie's villains.

[Paramount, Blu-ray $39.99 / DVD $29.98]