Jordan rescues ‘Without Remorse’ from its cliches
Michael B. Jordan continues to show different sides of his acting chops in this adaptation of the Tom Clancy novel that takes its name from the novel, then leaves the source material in the dust and heads out on a whole new story.
Maybe that’s the kind of thing that happens when a property keeps getting delayed over 25 years before finally being made.
The resulting film, directed by Stefano Sollima (“Sicario: Day of the Soldado”), hits many of the marks you’d want to be hit when dealing with a typically plot- packed Clancy story, but also leaves a few too many clichés intact.
It wouldn’t be accurate to label “Without Remorse” a “conventional” Clancy ( or, in this case, Clancy- like) thriller. Yes, it’s populated with politicians and military folks and members of the espionage community. But it also has a story at its center with more of a personal feel to it.
There’s a daring raid in Syria, in which Navy SEALs go in to rescue a hostage but realize, during the incursion, that the hostage was taken by Russians, not by Syrians.
“What’s going on here?” demands veteran SEAL John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan). But the man running the mission, Robert Ritter ( Jamie Bell), refuses to answer him. Neither does Ritter seem to care when one of his men is killed, because “Our priority is to secure the hostage.”
Amid extreme gun and knife violence, that’s exactly what they do. Then, job done, they head home, where after a quick look at Kelly’s happy situation — impending retirement from the military, a very pregnant wife — things go wrong, and get personal.
Two SEALs from that Special Operations Unit in Syria are murdered, and during a home invasion, Kelly’s wife is killed and he is gravely wounded. He kills three of the four intruders, but one gets away.
Here come the myriad, ever- twisting plot turns.
Waking up in the hospital, Kelly tells his friend and co-SEAL Karen Greer ( Jodie Turner- Smith) that all he needs is a name — in order to begin exacting revenge on the man that destroyed his family.
Much rigorous rehab ensues, as do meetings with the mysterious Ritter and the CIA’s Secretary Clay (Guy Pearce), and Kelly’s determined decision — even though he’s consumed by grief — to go after that fourth Russian.
But the film is hampered by what appears to be even more shady, unexplained CIA intrigue involving Ritter, and by some prison time for Kelly which, while providing some good, gritty fighting sequences, just isn’t an integral part of the story.
The action picks up, and the film presents a tense and exciting Russian strike when the Americans’ plane enters Russian airspace, followed by more tension and excitement in an overly Bondian underwater escape.
There are sniper attacks, copious gunfire, much wounding, double- dealing set- ups, dimly lit rooms, strange camera angles, pounding music, bright flashes of gunfire and continually rising tension.
But there’s not a lot that fans of this sort of movie
haven’t seen before. Such as trying to figure out, more than a few times, who exactly the bad guys are and what exactly is going on.
And so, it’s up to Jordan and his presence to carry the film, which he does, handily. He’s terrific, and his portrayal of the grieving and determined hero ranges from being even- tempered to full of sorrow to bursting with rage.
He also turns in a great physical action hero performance. He’s a lethal Energizer Bunny.
The main story, and the side stories about various characters, are resolved, and accompanied by a strange, dreamlike, ethereal ending, which settles, with some finality, on an unusual but positive note. There’s also, probably for commercial purposes, a “one year later” coda that opens up sequel possibilities but takes away from the impact of the ending.
“Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse” is on Amazon Prime Video.