Without Remorse… we finally got a Without Remorse movie based on the Tom Clancy novel. Considered one of the best Tom Clancy novels ever written, it’s been a long time coming getting to see a movie based on the novel, but is it what we expected…no. I admit that I am more harsh when it comes to my critiques about anything based on a Tom Clancy novel. Movies generally aren’t as good as the source material especially if it’s a book. And especially if it’s Tom Clancy book because of the level of detail he put into every one of his novels. I’m not going to say that this is a bad film, it’s not really that bad, but I don’t really consider it a Tom Clancy movie any more than I thought of the Matt Damon Bourne Identity trilogy resembling anything of the original Robert Ludlum series. At its heart, Without Remorse is simply a Hollywood action movie, something you would expect from Michael Bay. While there are plenty of nods to the original character and his origin story, it’s really only a name only, much like the Matt Damon Bourne Identity movie. I like good action movies even if they don’t resemble anything close to the source material. You can enjoy action movies for what they are. However, I will definitely take offense at the way this novel portrays one of Tom Clancy’s best characters, John Clark!

Let’s start with Michael B. Jordan. He is enjoyable as an action star and should certainly do more movies like this. But I don’t know if he really is John Clark and no it has nothing to do with him being black and portraying a white character. For anybody thinking that, you completely misjudged the movie and you should check your inner racism at the door. I can absolutely believe Michael B. Jordan as this character if it was more based on the original source material… If you just stick to the original story it’s a lot better and that’s the biggest problem of this movie is it gives us glimpses of this character’s origin story about how he was betrayed and his wife and child were killed, then he goes on a revenge mission only to be brought back into the fold of the CIA on a secret mission. Sure, you have all that in this movie, but it’s important to remember that the original story is a Vietnam era story where John Clark is a Vietnam Navy SEAL and is set in early 70s Baltimore. It’s also important to remember that his revenge story isn’t just simply about revenge, it’s also him trying to do the right thing and protect others that are being take advantage of by the worst kind of villains. Like for example, him trying to rescue a prostitute from a pimp and drug lord. A young woman that he will eventually fall in love with but can’t save which adds more to the depth of his character then just a guy seeking revenge for the death of his wife. It’s like saying that there isn’t that much to the marvel character The Punisher because his wife got killed and he went on a revenge spree. My point is Tom Clancy’s book is a great character driven action thriller I gave deeper meaning to his main character and this movie only glossed the surface. It’s true that maybe a miniseries would have been better. After all the two seasons of Jack Ryan on Amazon have proven a lot better than what a movie can do for the character especially as a young CIA analyst investigating terrorism. The biggest flaw of this movie is it doesn’t really delve too much into the character of John Clark. It’s just an action movie with the character’s namesake. And while it’s great to introduce characters from the Tom Clancy universe like Robert Ritter who we all know will become Deputy Director of Covert Missions in the CIA, you’ll remember his character from Clear and Present Danger and if you’ve ever read the novel Without Remorse then you know that he was there at the beginning with that character and that’s how the relationship came about. Jamie Bell plays a decent Robert Ritter in the movie.

I will say that I like this movie as an action movie, but that’s all it really is. It’s like a cheap carbon copy of a great novel that doesn’t take the time to really explore the complexities of the character John Clark and the emotional levels of his origin story. In many ways I really felt like I was watching Michael B. Jordan just be The but working for the CIA. What keeps this movie from ultimately being bad are the performances. Everybody’s really good in it even if the material isn’t. Maybe the biggest flaw of this film is that they try to make a 2-hour movie of what should have been a miniseries because there’s so much more to the Without Remorse novel that will give you a better understanding of the character John Clark or should I say John Kelly who will eventually become John Clark working for the CIA and John Kelly will be officially listed as dead. He’s basically a ghost. I can like this movie better if it just gives us a basic origin story for the character that leads into maybe a few six episodes series on Amazon or how this character will connect to Jack Ryan because I can definitely enjoy Michael B. Jordan as John Clark if you give him more of a story. And I know it’s too much to ask that we actually get the original story made that set in the 70s where John Clark will meet and rescue Emmett Ryan, Jack Ryan’s policeman father. But what I will say about this movie is enjoy it as a good action flick and nothing more. If you grew up with Tom Clancy novels and you really love the original source material then you will be disappointed despite the good performances. But like I said if they give us maybe a mini series or two of Michael B Jordan connecting to John Krasinski’s Jack Ryan universe then we’ll learn to appreciate this movie more. But this movie is just a 5 / 10 because the action and the performances are good enough to make it an average movie.