First Look: ‘Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit’

Cast: Chris Pine, Kevin Costner, Kenneth Branagh and Keira Knightley

Writers: Adam Cozad and David Koepp

Director: Kenneth Branagh

The story: When an act of financial terrorism threatens to ruin the United States, Jack Ryan (Pine) leaves a desk job for his first field assignment in this reboot of the Tom Clancy character previously played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck.

The buzz: Solid cast, good director, popular character. It’s a recipe designed to relaunch a blockbuster franchise. But the studio is purposely keeping it away from critics (at least locally) until after print deadlines, which is almost never a good sign.

— CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE