You’d be forgiven for expecting greatness from Amazon’s new Tom Clancy adaptation Without Remorse. After all it stars one of the finest young actors working today in Michael B. Jordan, who has consistently proven himself capable of transforming his body for action heavy roles, finally taking command of his own John Wick-style franchise. Add veteran scribe Taylor Sheridan into the mix, writer of gritty, character-focused thrillers like Sicario and Wind River and you’ve got yourself a surefire recipe for success. Unfortunately for Stefano Sollima’s film Jordan is the only redeeming quality in a big budget mess of jumbled, predictable plot-lines and barely there characters, which never manages to excite or intrigue for any longer than a few scenes at a time.
Jordan plays the typically Clancy-esque hero John Kelly, a hulking mass of special forces masculinity and muscle whose world is turned upside down when a rescue mission in Syria takes a turn for the worse as he discovers his team has unknowingly infiltrated a Russian arms den. After a brutal Russian retaliation leaves John clinging for life in the hospital and his world in tatters, he is forced to rely on his deadly training to avenge his family, cutting a bloody path through a complex web of shadowy military and underworld figures. Aided by fellow operative Karen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and with the reluctant help of CIA agent Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell) John soon discovers that there are powerful forces at play and that he is merely a pawn within the political machinations of a group hell-bent on forcing a US war with Russia. Not knowing who to trust, John must rely on only his skills and wits if he is to survive the deadly game afoot.
This is the ninth adaptation of a Clancy novel – outside of the several decades long video-game franchises – and it is fair to say that the once taut and exciting thrillers, which boldly dealt with political tensions and webs of espionage, are beginning to show their age. The opening scene sets up a conflict so muddy and unclear that the film never manages to recover, with what seems like a clear case of revenge takes on a larger and more menacing scope once Kelly decides to go on the warpath. But the reveal of who is actually pulling the strings raises more questions than it answers. How did this person not foresee John’s retaliation? How was John not dealt with sooner, given the wealth of knowledge the villain has? It all amounts to nothing of much consequence by the end, with a hasty conclusion laying the foundation for sequels at the expense of a compelling conclusion. The final reveal should be a moment of great emotional significance and release for John, instead ending in a somewhat flat scene without the expected violence that John was more than willing to unleash on the boss’s underlings.
The sequel-bait is hardly a surprise given how much Amazon appears to have spent on ensuring Jordan’s starring turn is a hit. Amazon hasn’t released any financial information but given the torrent of advertising out there and the scale of some of the set-pieces on display it’s safe to assume they have broken the bank, but for what? Splashy scenes don’t matter all that much if they aren’t compelling and these are about as unmemorable as you can get. An airplane crash scene is the only exception, grand and nerve-shattering to behold, but ultimately doesn’t serve to further the plot other than to showcase Jordan’s impressive ability to hold his breath underwater. The hand-to-hand combat is competently done but again, won’t stick in your brain any longer than the few seconds it takes to process the punches thrown.
Jordan is expectedly great at being gritty and menacing, and the physical transformation is truly commendable – the man could snap his enemies in half just with a cold stare – but the character is so one-note and underdeveloped, his relationship with his family barely shown before it is ripped away. It’s almost as if the writers simply expect you to root for Kelly off the weight of the crimes against him rather than out of any actual attachment to the character; a shame considering the glint of solid chemistry we see between Jordan and on-screen wife Lauren London all too briefly.
Amazon’s attempt to bring another Tom Clancy hero to our screens in pursuit of an eventual shared universe falls short with Without Remorse; a bland, cookie-cutter regurgitation of the Cold-War era espionage films of the 80’s that doesn’t translate to 2021 and which fails to make use of its incredibly talented lead and writing team. The action is serviceable and it is all shot competently, but the budget is needlessly excessive and wasted, the story is short on character development or any semblance of excitement and the conclusion is rushed and hackneyed. Jordan remains a bankable superstar and there is surely another franchise out there worthy of his talents but this is still a disappointing setback and adaptation of Clancy’s work. If you’re still hanging for some Clancy, give the criminally underrated Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit a watch instead.
Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse stars Michael B. Jordan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Jamie Bell, Lauren London, Merab Ninidze & Guy Pierce – Streaming on Amazon Prime now.