The Mosley Review: Tom Clancy’s: Without Remorse

The simplest and most exciting part of the action genre is the revenge plot films. They are straight to the point, have a decent story that'll get you to point A to Z in under 90 minutes and you actually empathize with the lead character's lust for blood. John Wick, Mad Max, Kill Bill Vol. 1-2 and Gladiator are all classics and they did the genre justice by delivering a heartbreaking motivation and a simple premise in their own style. This film enters the genre, but lands with a thunderous thud of an uninteresting and overly used plot that is in almost every politically driven action film of the past 2 decades. Yeah sure the action is what you came for, but it means nothing if you don't have a reason for it to exist or any character to connect with as the carnage ensues. After the fun introduction, I found that the plot of the film began to take a very familiar form as it delves into the deeper motivations of an operation that took a wrong turn and then you see the consequences. I really don't want to spoil the film but after the first 20 minutes or so, you see what I mean when the originality goes out the window. Once you get past the overly grunty 1 note acting, you'll see the action is all it had going for it.

Michael B. Jordan has been a very strong on screen presence and he has delivered some outstanding performances before, but this was not great. As John Kelly, he does deliver a serviceable performance and you do feel his pain as tragedy befalls him. Once his gloves are off and he's going after the people that are responsible, it is so much fun to watch Jordan work in some excellent action scenes. My problem is that he was had 2 modes: 1. He’s angrily or painfully grunting every few seconds while enraged. 2. For a few seconds, you see him calm and decisive. There was no inbetween where we could empathize with him. I get that the man's soul was ripped away from him but without that component, he just comes off as 1 note. Lauren London was radiant as his wife Pam and she brought warmth to the film. Jamie Bell was good as the CIA Deputy Director Robert Ritter and I liked that he was always on the edge of being trustworthy. Jodie Turner-Smith was truly badass as Lieutenant Commander Karen Greer and the chemistry between her Jordan was the saving grace of the film. She brings out the moments of humanity left in John and I got a brother and sister relationship vibe from them in a particular scene. Guy Pearce is always great to watch on screen and as Secretary of Defense Thomas Clay, he was good.

The score from Jónsi was decent, but not particularly memorable. One of the major highlights of the film is the action and it is worth noting the inconsistency of quality throughout. You see where the director's eye was going and alot of it is more practical and a decent mix of CGI to amplify and splice together environments, which is always a plus. The problem is that the energy starts strong, but then deflates as the camera and editing doesn't convey the pacing. It’s like a boat sitting in raging rapids, but the boat is still. Overall, it was a very generic action film that has some cool moments of action, but lacks the depth that'll make it standout amongst the rest. It is currently streaming on Amazon Prime. Let me know what you thought of the film or of my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!