Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is a 2014 American action thriller film based on the character Jack Ryan created by author Tom Clancy. It is the fifth film in the Jack Ryan series and the second reboot thereof. Unlike its predecessors, it is not an adaptation of a particular Clancy novel, but rather an original story. Chris Pine stars in the title role, becoming the fourth actor to play Ryan, following Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck. The film is directed by Kenneth Branagh, who also stars alongside Kevin Costner, and Keira Knightley.
The original screenplay was written by Adam Cozand and David Koepp. The film was produced by Mace Neufeld, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, David Barron and Mark Vahradian, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, Paul Schwake and Tommy Harper as executive producers. The film score was composed by Patrick Doyle.
The film was released in the United States on January 17, 2014. It grossed over $130 million and was met with mixed critical reviews. It is dedicated to Clancy, who died on October 1, 2013.
Plot
After the September 11 attacks, Jack Ryan, studying at the London School of Economics, becomes a U.S. Marine officer serving in Afghanistan, until his spine is critically injured while saving two of his fellow Marines when his helicopter is shot down. During a lengthy recovery back in the United States, he meets Cathy Muller, a medical student helping him to recover. Later, Thomas Harper, a veteran CIA official, recruits Jack.
Ten years later, Ryan is working on Wall Street covertly for the CIA looking for suspicious financial transactions that indicate terrorist activity, while Muller is now his fiancée. When Russia loses a key vote before the United Nations and the markets do not respond as expected, Ryan discovers that billions of dollars possessed by Russian business interests, most of which belong directly or indirectly to Russian oligarch Viktor Cherevin, have disappeared.
Ryan's employer conducts business with one of Cherevin's businesses. When Ryan finds certain accounts inaccessible to him as an auditor, he uses it as a legitimate excuse to visit Moscow and investigate. After narrowly surviving an attempt on his life by an assassin posing as his bodyguard, Ryan contacts the CIA and is surprised that his backup is Harper. During their debrief at Staraya Square, Ryan explains how Cherevin's web of international investments make the United States vulnerable to complete financial collapse following a staged terrorist attack.
The next day, Ryan is met by Katya, who escorts him to Cherevin's office. At their meeting, he is told that the problem company and all its assets have just been sold, preventing an audit. Meanwhile, Muller suspects that Ryan is having an affair and flies to Moscow. Against protocol for unmarried couples, Ryan reveals his CIA employment to her. Improvising on the situation, Harper convinces Muller to help them infiltrate Cherevin's offices. Ryan and Muller meet Cherevin at an upscale restaurant across the street from the office. Ryan, who supposedly had too much to drink already before dinner, acts boorish and Muller suggests he "take a walk." Having obtained Cherevin's access card, Ryan enters Cherevin's office, where he downloads crucial files from the computer. While Muller remains with Cherevin distracting him with a variety of topics, she notices symptoms that reveal he has cirrhosis and asks him about it.
The suspicious activity on Cherevin's computer is detected, and guards rush through the building to locate the intruder. Katya is alerted to find Cherevin, who in a rage takes Muller out of the restaurant to return to his office. On the street, they run into Ryan, who apologizes for his behavior and leaves with Muller. Cheverin's men locate and invade the CIA group's base and kidnap Muller. Enraged, Ryan follows and rescues her.
Ryan and the CIA discover Cherevin has secretly propped up the struggling Chinese and Japanese state economies for years, leaving the U.S. economy vulnerable, as well as using a falsified death certificate to place his son, Aleksandr, in the U.S. as a sleeper agent. Ryan uses his talent for pattern recognition to determine that Aleksandr will execute a terrorist attack on Wall Street. Returning to New York City, he locates and catches up to a fake police response vehicle driven by Aleksandr, and discovers a bomb inside the vehicle. Unable to defuse it, he hijacks the vehicle and crashes it into the East River while jumping out; the bomb detonates, killing Aleksandr. Cherevin's fellow conspirators kill him to cover their tracks. Afterwards, Ryan, now married, and Harper are called to the White House to brief the President on their next move.