The Sum of all Fears serves as a prequel to the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October. This weaker Jack Ryan installment this time has a rookie Ryan saving the world from a nuclear bomb that is sold on the black market and is eventually detonated—pretty much obliterating Baltimore. And now the US is blaming the Russians which reminds me all too often of the Cold War.
Ben Affleck does a mostly poor job in the role of Jack Ryan. He isn’t as suave as Alec Baldwin was or determined as Harrison Ford, he portrays Ryan more as a younger risky playboy like a young American James Bond. In the end, he ends up saving the world from ultimate disaster resulting in a possible World War III, all the while giving an unconvincing acting performance.
None of the Jack Ryan movies are particularly memorable, but the Sum of all Fears is the least memorable of all of them. Even Morgan Freeman, a reasonably fine actor, underperformed this time around. Tom Clancy wrote every one of the popular Jack Ryan books, four of which have by now been converted into films. I don’t necessarily think the Sum of all Fears was he particularly imagined.
The Sum of all Fears will only appeal to a some who like complex thrillers; I mostly do but this one was an exception.
Grade: C-
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