There is a very good sequence in Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, that begins with a fight in a hotel room, continues with a frantic phone call, and ends with two men on a park bench making sense of the events. At the end of that sequence, Jack Ryan (Chris Pine), a CIA analyst with serious back problems and very little field training, is handed a gun and upgraded to "operational." In that moment, Paramount Pictures effectively reboots the character as an action hero who shoots and punches his way to victory.
Now, I'm a complete sucker for secret agent movies, but in a post-9/11 world -- a fact unnecessarily emphasized in the very first scene -- where films like Zero Dark Thirty and Showtime's original series Homeland have proven that audiences still crave intelligent espionage stories, it seems silly to roll with the Bonds and the Bournes of the movie world, especially when you have a character who has always been distinguished by his intelligence. But, that's their hook. Like it or not.
J.J. Abrams' 2009 reboot of Star Trek was a shot of adrenaline into the arm of an ailing franchise. But, let's not kid ourselves, it's far from a perfect picture. The script gets the character moments right, but fails to make much logical sense. (Please explain to me how the chain of command works in Starfleet, when a cadet on academic suspension can be promoted to Captain in, like, a day and a half? And, why does Kirk fire all the Enterprise's weapons on Nero after offering him assistance? I could go on...) Luckily, Abrams has a great visual sense, a terrific eye for casting, and carries out his storytelling with a sense of urgency -- all of which made the film highly enjoyable. For Abrams' second outing as "Captain" of the franchise, Star Trek Into Darkness, the same strengths and weaknesses are amplified in ways that will thrill and amaze you in the case of the former, and perhaps, make you throw your 3D glasses at the screen in a fit of nerd-rage over the latter.
