Jack Ryan returns for a third outing in Clear and Present Danger, reuniting Harrison Ford’s Ryan with director Phillip Noyce, who also directed Ford as Ryan in Patriot Games.
Too bad that with plenty of raw material (notably Willem Dafoe as an American mercenary working in Columbia), Danger comes up awfully short. For starters, what is our CIA hero doing poking around in the Colubian drug trade? Sure, he’s rooting out a huge conspiracy that goes all the way up the U.S. political ranks, but must we be subjected to endless Latino stereotypes en route to that? Clancy is always at his best when he’s dealing with terrorists or Russians. Here we have a plot (nearly 2 1/2 hours in length) that trots out the usual exploding drug factories and endless cartel assassinations. Ryan’s escape from a troublesome mission is infamous for the bad guys’ repeated inability to hit a near motionless target.
Dafoe’s bright spot doesn’t get nearly enough screen time, and we’re pretty bored by the time he does make his appearances. Another high point has Ryan duelling another CIA agent in a battle to get to some electronic files before they’re deleted (thus exposing the conspiracy). But this is similarly too late in the film to make much of an impact. Danger is just an overblown attempt to latch onto already-waning “Just Say No” sentiment in the U.S. (It was released in 1994). No dice.
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