Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War plus Short Takes on Propeller One-Way Night Coach and other cinematic topics
Reviews and Comments by Ken Burke
I invite you to join me on a regular basis to see how my responses to current cinematic offerings compare to the critical establishment, which I’ll refer to as either the CCAL (Collective Critics at Large) if they’re supportive or the OCCU (Often Cranky Critics Universe) when they go negative. However, due to COVID concerns I’m mostly addressing streaming options with limited visits to theaters, where I don’t think I’ve missed much anyway, but better options are on the horizon. (Note: Anything in bold blue below [or near purple] is a link to something in the above title or the review.)
My reviews’ premise: “You can’t please everyone, so you got to please yourself.”
(from "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, 1972 album of the song’s name)
However, if you’d like to know more about rationale of my ratings visit this explanatory site.
Here’s the trailer:
(Use the full screen button in the image’s lower right to enlarge its size;
activate the same button or use “esc” keyboard key to return to normal.)
If you can abide plot spoilers read on, but this blog’s intended for those who’ve seen the film or want to save some $ (as well as recognizing those readers like me who just aren’t that tech-savvy). To help any of you who want to learn more details yet avoid these all-important plot-reveals I’ll identify any give-away sentences/sentence-clusters with colors plus arrows:
⇒The first and last words will be noted with arrows and red.⇐ OK, now continue on if you prefer.
WHAT HAPPENS: Jack Ryan (John Krasinski) tries to retire from the CIA but is encouraged by friend/Deputy Director James Greer (Wendell Pierce) to take on one last project, meeting Nigel Cooke (Douglas Hodge) in Dubai to retrieve some crucial intel, so Ryan’s off to the Middle East (although not having to duck U.S., Israeli, and/or Iranian missiles/drones), accompanied by Mike November (Michael Kelly). Ryan meets with Cooke who gives him nothing before being killed by agents of Liam Crown (Max Beesley), a rogue former Black Ops agent who has a plan of staging supposed terrorist actions in order to convince powerful groups such as the CIA and UK’s MI6 to restart banned counter-terrorism groups such as Project Starling. Ryan and November are then taken into custody by MI6 officer Emma Marlow (Sienna Miller). Crown tells Greer he’ll kill Ryan unless what supposedly was delivered by Cooke is returned to Crown; Greer comes to London, meets with Ryan, all determine Crown’s revived Starling group plans to blow up Tower Bridge. CIA Director Elizabeth Wright (Betty Gabriel) also comes to London but is killed by a Crown car bomb. Ryan, November, and Marlow go back to Dubai in pursuit of Crown. ⇒This all results in a huge firefight with Marlow being injured as help arrives from Greer; Crown’s wounded, Ryan kills him. Greer becomes CIA Director, recommends Ryan be confirmed as Deputy Director.⇐ If you want more plot details (if so, maybe you're desperate for this to somehow make sense), please go here.
SO WHAT? This posting adds another 4-stars rating to what I’ve reviewed since Apex (Baltasar Kormákur) on April 29 of this year—not … Ghost War of course but due to Propeller … much farther below. Regarding this Jack Ryan episode, I’ll admit it’s been quite a while since I’ve encountered this character—going way back to The Hunt for Red October (John McTiernan, 1990; Alec Baldwin as Ryan), Patriot Games (Philip Noyce, 1992; Harrison Ford), Clear and Present Danger (Noyce, 1994; Ford), The Sum of All Fears (Phil Alden Robinson, 2002; Ben Affleck), Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (Kenneth Branagh, 2014; Chris Pine), but I missed the entire Jack Ryan Amazon Prime Video TV series (2018-2023) with Krasinski (extensive details on this whole franchise here)—having put more attention on the James Bond, Jason Bourne, Mission Impossible movies (though I haven’t yet had connection with 2025's Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning [Christopher McQuarrie]).
I may have understood more from … Ghost War had I seen the Amazon TV series because this plot seems to follow up on aspects of those shows with some current movie characters as carry-overs from Prime’s stories. What doesn’t carry over very well, for me and many in the critical community (details below), is much of a coherent plot featuring characters better defined for those of us not conversant with Ryan’s recent career on Prime; instead we get a car chase that goes on way too long and even-longer filler scenes of people shooting at each other with assault rifles to try to stretch about 20 minutes of useful dialogue into something around 1¾ hours long (well, a little shorter thanks to the usual barrage of final credits appropriate to such computer-enhanced fare). I looked back at my ... Shadow Recruit review to see what slightly-intrigued me more about that much-earlier entry in the franchise; once I waded through my horrible layout approach from those days (you’d think I was paying for photos given how few I used, resulting in cognitive assaults with those seemingly-eternal paragraphs), I found I had lots of problems with that one too, but at least the star power of the cast essentially made it more interesting, so I’ll just be honest about my boredom with … Ghost War, not even go to 3 stars this time, though viewers who just like a lot of action/want to see marvelous imagery of Dubai and London would surely rate it higher (at least I didn’t have to directly pay for it either, as our annual fee to Amazon Prime does bring in loads of nice discounts).
(I’ve borrowed another dismissal from someone else for this photo.)
BOTTOM LINE FINAL COMMENTS: While … Ghost War had a minor theatrical presence it’s mostly available on streaming (I can’t imagine it selling many tickets after an curiosity-driven opening weekend) where it’s free to Amazon Prime Video subscribers (also free for 30 days, then $13.98 monthly if you want more). Certainly, the OCCU wouldn’t encourage spending much time on this movie as the Rotten Tomatoes positive reviews are a measly 43% and the Metacritic average score down to 38%. The Guardian’s (UK) Jesse Hassenger (MC 40) is typical of those who found little redeeming value in this tale: “Diehard fans of the show might find more enjoyment in seeing Krasinski, Pierce, Kelly and Betty Gabriel back again, or adding the believably hard-bitten Miller to the mix. The movie does set up potential for a continuing movie franchise. Mostly, though, Jack Ryan: Ghost War feels like a sad state of affairs for the world’s dads (and dads at heart), who deserve to see airport-novel espionage brought to less chintzy life.” Still, there are some more supportive such as Brandon Zachary (MC 60) of ScreenRant: “Ghost War works best when it has some good action going on. While it's never necessarily revolutionary, there is enough grit and grime to the sequences that make them land well in the moment. Likewise, the dialogue-heavy scenes are all shot, performed, and cut with an effective (and unshowy) edge.” And, while we’re in ScreenRant here’s Antonella Gugliersi with 8 reasons why Krasinski’s the best Jack Ryan yet based on the TV series, an opinion shared by Liam Gaughan of Collider who also references the previous movie Ryans (I’ll admit that Krasinski’s portrayal is the best thing about … Ghost War).
So, why did I choose to watch/review this mess? First, I’m trying to honor my intention of focusing now on 2026 releases, with few others seeming to be much better; second, I had good experiences with Ryan movies long ago so I hoped this one would be worth my time; third, there have been some previous OCCU duds I found quite watchable so I took a chance. Maybe next week I’ll hit paydirt again. In the meantime, here’s my usual review-ending Musical Metaphor, Johnny Rivers’ "Secret Agent Man" (much shorter version used with opening of CBS TV show Secret Agent [1964-’66; this version on Rivers’ 1966 album … And I Know You Wanna Dance]); I’ll also give you a fan video using the song with shots from that TV show (it may be more enjoyable than … Ghost War).
SHORT TAKES (spoilers also appear here)
Here’s the trailer:
Before reading further, please refer to the plot spoilers warning far above.
Even on hiatus last week I still had time to see Travolta’s directorial debut as he adapted his 1997 novella (of the same name) about a mother, Helen (Kelly Eviston-Quinnett), and her 8-year-old son, Jeff (Clark Shotwell), traveling in 1962 from NYC to LA in her desperate quest to break into the movies. Due to budget restrictions, instead of taking a straight-through jet they travel on a propeller plane making several stops along the way allowing for Helen to chat up various fellow passengers (while downing her Manhattans) as Jeff charms various stewardesses, especially Doris (Ella Bleu Travolta [John’s daughter; other Travoltas occupy various minor roles]). I’m trying to keep these comments truly short (with this week's lengthy movie titles already taking up extraordinary space) so I’ll just note ⇒Jeff ultimately becomes a pilot on the NYC-LA route, he married Doris (despite her being 21 when they met), even as Helen later ends up as an acting instructor at the Pasadena Playhouse⇐; if you want more plot details, go here. I found this to be marvelously charming, easy to follow, wonderfully illustrative of the director/actor’s (a small role at the end) lifelong-love of flying even while the OCCU wasn’t overly impressed: RT positives 55%, Metacritic average score 49%.
One critic in active support, however, is my local guru Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle, MC 100% (although I had to get a link to his review in the Houston Chronicle because the SFC suddenly wants me to set up an account even though we have one in my wife’s name and I don’t want to be charged twice for a subscription): “Everybody has memories of times and places in the past that mean something to them. But it takes art and skill to take what’s personal and make it meaningful to someone who has never had a similar experience. [¶] This is the notable success of […] Travolta’s first film as a director.” More appropriate to the critical consensus is Brian Tallerico in RogerEbert.com (MC 50): “It might be a case of Travolta actually being too close to this project for so much of his life. He can feel the wonder in its beats in a way that makes him overlook the need to create that for viewers.” You can choose for yourself, even as I encourage you to listen more to me and LaSalle. I’ll take the Musical Metaphor from the soundtrack, "Come Fly With Me," a 1958 hit for Frank Sinatra from his album that year named for the song. You can find the movie via streaming free to all Apple TV subscribers or watch for 7 days free (then $12.99 monthly).
Related Links Which You Might Find Interesting:
My thanks to long-time friend/blog contributor Richard J. Parker who notes Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi film, Disclosure Day, debuts in theaters this weekend (6/12/2026) including in IMAX and some additional 70mm locations like this one in San Antonio, TX (it was shot in 35mm, then blown up to the larger size for some venues). When it finally gets to streaming, I’ll be anxious to see/report on it.
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