@TalisBriedis said:

Not bad. I am not impressed with the selection of actors. Many weak points in the story. Oh, and the majority of the story has nothing to do with Ryan. The one thing that really bothered me is from slinging falafel, in a couple of years he is a multi millionaire. Did he win the LottoMax or something? Overall it is ok at best.

"slinging falafel" what?

When he was in Paris with his brother, he was working in a fast food place. His unemployed brother said he would not sell falafel for a living.

@TalisBriedis said:

Not bad. I am not impressed with the selection of actors. Many weak points in the story. Oh, and the majority of the story has nothing to do with Ryan. The one thing that really bothered me is from slinging falafel, in a couple of years he is a multi millionaire. Did he win the LottoMax or something? Overall it is ok at best.

I just can't get on board with Krasinski as Jack Ryan. It probably has more to do with the writing or direction, but I probably won't watch any more

I am on episode 8 at the moment and I will probably watch it through to what I expect to be a somewhat predictable ending. I too, find Krasinski poorly cast as Jack Ryan. He just seems like a big worried lump who is constantly worried about something. I mean we are used to Harrison Ford, who although he too looked constantly worried, at least he got in a good scrap or two. With Krasinski he just looks like he would cut and run if the going got too tough. I would also like to know how Suleiman knew he was going to be invaded at that particular moment. I know the boy had been in communication with his sister (was that a dumb app to get the girl or what) but there was nothing on it about an attack. So, whilst entertaining enough it definitely could be better. I notice the directors seem to be sharing episodes too, a male one episode, a female the next. Perhaps that contributes to the unevenness of the series.

They are going overboard trying to make Ryan act morally outraged over everything. I get it, they want to establish him as the good guy, the guy who is repulsed by the criminal elements he must deal with, and so on. But they go too far with that trope. When he and Greer hired the Turkish whore house owner to find Suleiman's wife and kids and the Turk kills two guards at a gate they need to cross, Jack loses it and begins fighting the Turk. He yells "He's a pimp and a murderer, and we're dealing with him?"

Greer should have bitch slapped him several times and told him to grow up. Who the hell did he think he was dealing with? What are the stakes? And Ryan is willing to throw it all away because he is repulsed by the Turk's moral compass? Sure. It's like Jack is saying "screw the hundreds of thousands who will die at the hands of the terrorists. Because I cannot pay this pimp and murderer for information and assistance."

The filmmakers went too far in creating this boy scout, squeaky clean, image.

And then his girlfriend, the epidemiologist expert; when she finds out at a classified meeting she is called to that Ryan is CIA, she becomes upset. She feels betrayed that he lied about what he does for a living. How DARE he lie about working for a spy agency?!

I know they over dramatize things in movies and TV shows, but there ought to be some degree of maturity there. Any adult of average intelligence can put it together: if you work for the CIA in certain positions, you are not permitted to talk about what you really do. It's not a betrayal to give out your cover identity, it's a betrayal not to do so.

What's the deal? Does everyone in the movies have to act like they're victims?

I kind of have to echo the sentiment here. I don't really dislike the show, but modern attempts at Ryan have been severely lacking the intelligence and maturity of the original novels, and the earlier films. Hell, even "The Sum of all Fears" managed to do it better.

@mechajutaro said:

@Tsavo said:

I kind of have to echo the sentiment here. I don't really dislike the show, but modern attempts at Ryan have been severely lacking the intelligence and maturity of the original novels, and the earlier films. Hell, even "The Sum of all Fears" managed to do it better.

Clancy's work hasn't aged especially well. In the aftermath of our failed War On Terror, it's tough to view the intelligence community at large especially charitably. Not saying there aren't decent folks within said community; as a whole though, they're gone from one blunder to the next, without seeming to have learned much

Even in Clancy's work they portrayed the intelligence community as having huge blind spots in certain areas. The middle east is a difficult place to get reliable intel, especially given the many different factions and ever-changing situation. His novels portray Ryan as remarkably competent, but he's also the hero of the story. Some leeway can be granted there. Sure the CIA has botched quite a few things, but it's not an absolute.