The Sum of All Fears

The Sum of All Fears is a much more disturbing picture than it might have been before September 11, but that just adds to the drama. I'm not a big Ben Affleck fan. And yet, I liked this movie -- there's a strong supporting cast (Morgan Freeman and James Cromwell, specifically) that makes me forgive Ben's blandness.

And of course, he's playing Jack Ryan, following in the footsteps of Harrison Ford and Alec Baldwin. It's fun to watch Jack develop. His inexperience here is refreshing, as he once again is put into combat situations he should never be in.

On the other hand, the movie wusses out. The bad guys are a coalition of Neo-nazis and other random weird, mean European guys. It just seems fabricated, which is odd when every other aspect of the movie strives to be so accurately detailed. I mean, it's like they gave us the Legion of Doom as a set of villains (psst, that's the worst fear -- the sum of all our little fears put together, get it?).

The plan is to force America and Russia into a war of escalation, by setting off strikes that appear to be initiated by the other side. We know now that, even after September 11 with a Republican President who uses words like "Dead or Alive" and "crusade" -- even HE didn't start lobbing nuclear missiles or even ordering strikes on other countries. Still, this is supposed to be a different time (precisely what time, we're not sure, but maybe it's the 1980s) and political tempers flare more easily.

Then there's the strange jiggery-pokery played with Ryan's background. If you watch the "making of" on the DVD, the director uses the words "franchise" and "reinvigorate" and...hyuk...hyuk...BLEEEEEARGH!

Sorry, I just threw up all over those terms. Obviously, continuity is sacrificed so that they can make more money off of Jack Ryan. He's in good company -- I mean, look what they did with Batman. Oh wait...

I do respect the decision not to show the nuclear explosion. The director manages to really keep the tension high. And the budding relationship between Jack and his future wife is believable. When characters die, we feel bad for them. All of that makes it a really good movie. Not the best of its kind, but really good.