_"You're not just an analyst anymore. You're operational now."_

This film was lackluster in pretty much every department. The only thing in its favor was that it's a major one with a high budget and big names. I feel that's worse, in a way, as opposed to films with low budgets because you'd expect most films with low budgets to be flawed; when the budget is high, but everything else is lackluster, the disconnect is huge. I almost wish this was a film that's so extraordinarily bad but in a good way, which is how I imagine I'd feel with low-budget films hardly anyone knows about that has 'bad everything.'

Chris Pine's performance was very similar to his performance in _This Means War_, minus the sarcastic playboy/comedic element: and that was super noticeable, which I thought didn't fit the character. The acting itself was decent, especially the scene where he got back up clutching unto the crutch; that didn't seem Chris Pine-esque at all.

That said, his performance gave the impression that he phoned it in or is one of those actors that always seems to be playing the same character, whether due to the roles he chooses or because he doesn't have much range.

John Krasinski's portrayal of Jack Ryan is quite different. Then again, I've only watched him in that show and _13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi_, and I suppose both acting performances seemed similar, too. I guess it's just a matter of not having a wide range, both Chris Pine and John Krasinski.

The performances by Kevin Costner and Keira Knightley were alright. Nothing noteworthy. Her American accent was surprising: and decent, I guess. I'm used to her authentic accent because of Elizabeth Swann. I will say this: the way she enunciates sometimes, or something along those lines, is borderline uncanny (with a certain charm), although it fits with her authentic accent quite well: here, not so much.

I thought Kenneth Branagh's performance was the stand-out. Something about it seemed "good," specifically "better." His acting, I mean. His Russian accent sounded like the Russian accent of Armie Hammer in _The Man from U.N.C.L.E._, so I'll assume it wasn't a good one. Besides that, Kenneth's performance was probably the best in the film.

The score by Patrick Doyle was probably the only good thing. Well, I guess the production value and cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos were good, too. But everything else was lackluster, so that could've elevated it higher. Even though I feel like the score was one of the only good things, the more I think about it, the more it seems to have been lackluster.

The editing and pacing were fast for the most part. And while I'm somewhat indifferent towards that, the first 10-33 minutes of the film were quite good, both pacing and direction, further complimented by the slower pacing/the atmosphere built up. But once everything got going, it was going fast, not to mention what was happening didn't necessarily make up for it. What should've been the meat of the film, beyond literalism (if that makes sense), was the complete opposite. It was very lackluster.

Overall, this film wasn't good enough. And it was even worse, given that it's a film about a Tom Clancy character, one of his most iconic characters. But it didn't adopt a particular novel; the story was original. All you have to do is make everything original if you're going to do that instead of creating an adaptation without the whole meaning. Adapting a particular novel _well_ seems too complex a task anyway. At least you'd have the excuse of everything being original despite not delivering fully.