`The Sum of All Fears' is unfortunately marred by political correctness. An extremely scary premise (the thievery and detonation of an atomic bomb within the United States) loses most of its impact when, as opposed to the book, the perpetrators who steal and detonate the bomb are white supremacists (yeah, RIGHT!) Neo-Nazis are of course a very safe target for Hollywood as villains, but let's be for real: the only real nuclear terrorist threat in the world right now comes from Islamic extremists, people who feel extremely safe that they are destined for an afterlife of paradise, such as the Al Qaeda hijackers (Do I even need to explain this?) Changing the villain to a Neo-Nazi makes us feel like we are in the James Bond fantasy world, where villains are German or British-accented intellectuals who listen to classical music while they express their mad theories. Tom Clancy's books are strengthened by their non-"Bond"-ish approach to espionage. Neo-Nazis are in fact dangerous, however this is not a suitable realm to depict them as the villains. A standoffish scene between one of them and a black marine comes off more laughable than it does disturbing, as do other references to Nazism. Maybe the filmmakers actually wanted to take us out of the real world and make this story appear more fantastic, but the result reeks of BS.
As for the other aspects of the film, it has some good moments and other ones that don't work. The setup and characters are decent, and so is much of the cinematography, if it is wholly routine and unoriginal (lots and lots of blue or red-lighted Pentagon-like military planning rooms.) I was at least into the story, if I had a problem with it as stated above, until the `money shots,' when the bomb went off. I liked how there were no shots of a `ticking clock' or other clichés involved with ticking time bombs. But after the bomb goes off, the plot resorts to the shuffling sequences we have seen commonly in movies from `Thirteen Days' to `Doctor Strangelove' to `Crimson Tide.' It is not nearly as successful as any of these. It also feels tired, and even somewhat irrelevant. After a nuclear bomb is triggered off in the United States, I don't feel very satisfied with the momentum turning to an agent trying to STOP retaliation or nuclear war. And having Russia as a potential threat to us is something that should probably leave the movies until we find that country to be a serious threat again. In the end, it is frustrating and unbelievable that the American people would allow a nuclear attack without a major retaliation against those responsible. The justice that comes to the villains as an "afterthought" is really unsatisfying--that we could just forget a nuclear attack and go back to normal immediately is absurd, and this was obvious long before 9/11.
Ben Affleck, replacing Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan is decent in the role. If not entirely believable, he is an entertaining character actor. It is understandable that the filmmakers made his character out to be young and inexperienced. But in the end, it isn't very convincing that this young kid would have the President of the US and the Premier of Russia on the same line. Liev Schreiber (who steals most of the scenes he is in) and Morgan Freeman are good additions to the cast.
I don't know why I expected this Clancy film to be different than the others, but for me it suffered from something that the others did, too: a lack of punch. I don't think Tom Clancy's books are as ideal for movies as they may appear. I'm not saying that they should be less technical, nor should they present typical action film Hollywood climaxes-these are aspects of Clancy's works that make his stories so appealing and successful. I just wish there was a way for me to be more drawn into the story. I have found every Clancy film thus far to be more interesting than entertaining. Grade: C+
As for the other aspects of the film, it has some good moments and other ones that don't work. The setup and characters are decent, and so is much of the cinematography, if it is wholly routine and unoriginal (lots and lots of blue or red-lighted Pentagon-like military planning rooms.) I was at least into the story, if I had a problem with it as stated above, until the `money shots,' when the bomb went off. I liked how there were no shots of a `ticking clock' or other clichés involved with ticking time bombs. But after the bomb goes off, the plot resorts to the shuffling sequences we have seen commonly in movies from `Thirteen Days' to `Doctor Strangelove' to `Crimson Tide.' It is not nearly as successful as any of these. It also feels tired, and even somewhat irrelevant. After a nuclear bomb is triggered off in the United States, I don't feel very satisfied with the momentum turning to an agent trying to STOP retaliation or nuclear war. And having Russia as a potential threat to us is something that should probably leave the movies until we find that country to be a serious threat again. In the end, it is frustrating and unbelievable that the American people would allow a nuclear attack without a major retaliation against those responsible. The justice that comes to the villains as an "afterthought" is really unsatisfying--that we could just forget a nuclear attack and go back to normal immediately is absurd, and this was obvious long before 9/11.
Ben Affleck, replacing Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan is decent in the role. If not entirely believable, he is an entertaining character actor. It is understandable that the filmmakers made his character out to be young and inexperienced. But in the end, it isn't very convincing that this young kid would have the President of the US and the Premier of Russia on the same line. Liev Schreiber (who steals most of the scenes he is in) and Morgan Freeman are good additions to the cast.
I don't know why I expected this Clancy film to be different than the others, but for me it suffered from something that the others did, too: a lack of punch. I don't think Tom Clancy's books are as ideal for movies as they may appear. I'm not saying that they should be less technical, nor should they present typical action film Hollywood climaxes-these are aspects of Clancy's works that make his stories so appealing and successful. I just wish there was a way for me to be more drawn into the story. I have found every Clancy film thus far to be more interesting than entertaining. Grade: C+