With Remorse

Give us the Tom Clancy Cinematic Universe, you cowards

Without Remorse, Amazon Studio’s take on the Tom Clancy novel of the same name, is fine. “Fine” as in whatever, not fine as in wine. And that’s the remorse, because it could and should be so much more.

I tend to write about Tom Clancy-related works quite often around these parts. Part of the reason is that I grew up in a home where my father’s bookshelf was stocked with the novels of Clancy. Part of it is that I’m a huge fan of the Jack Ryan film series. Well, the first three, at least. And the last of those three, Clear and Present Danger, in particular.

Anyway, I celebrate the entire catalog. Even when it’s ‘meh’ as it has been in recent memory. Though part of the reason why I had higher hopes of Without Remorse is that I actually quite like Amazon’s reboot of the Ryan character as a show, starring John Krasinski in the title role. I wouldn’t say it’s perfect, but it’s utterly watchable, two seasons in.

Without Remorse could have been that for the John Kelly character in the Clancy universe. Instead, it’s just an entirely forgettable movie. Yes, something much larger is teased at the end, but I’m honestly not sure how many people are even going to make it far enough to care. The talents of Michael B. Jordan and Taylor Sheridan feel wasted.

This too should have been a show. And it should have been a show that eventually ties into the Jack Ryan show. That property would have been the Iron Man, while Without Remorse would have launched it into a Tom Clancy Cinematic Universe.

And I thought they were going to do that for a second. We get Lieutenant Commander Karen Greer — niece of Jim Greer, played by Wendell Pierce in the Jack Ryan show (and, of course, James Earl Jones in the earlier Ryan films). And then we get a young Robert Ritter (the CIA Deputy Director in Clear and Present Danger played so brilliantly by Henry Czerny). Both of these characters could easily cross over into the world of Jack Ryan.

And perhaps that was the intention. But because Without Remorse is so mediocre, it’s not clear that they’ll get the chance.

It’s all right there. A John Kelly/Clark show, which turns into a Rainbow Six show in season two, which runs in parallel with the Jack Ryan show, until they intersect in a couple of years. Perhaps teaming up just as Ryan and Clark do in Clear and Present Danger (as portrayed by Harrison Ford and Willem Dafoe).

Alternatively, why not just stick to the plot of the actual Without Remorse book, which seems like a better story anyway? Make it based in the 1970s, completely with Lt. Emmet Ryan — father of a young Jack Ryan. Have the Jack Ryan show take place in the 1980s, where the two eventually overlap and continue on into the 1990s.