Jack Ryan: Ghost War feels less like a completely separate movie and more like getting one more big adventure with the characters from the Jack Ryan series.
And for me, that is exactly why it works.
John Krasinski returns as Jack Ryan, who has left the CIA behind and is now living a much more normal life working on Wall Street. Of course, that doesn’t last very long.
James Greer comes back into Jack’s life and asks him to handle what is supposed to be a simple pickup while he is in Dubai. Jack reluctantly agrees, and Mike November comes along with him.
Naturally, nothing about the mission stays simple.
Jack meets former MI6 officer Nigel Cooke, who is clearly terrified and trying to get information back to Greer. Before Jack can really understand what is happening, Cooke is killed, and Jack and Mike suddenly find themselves caught in the middle of a much larger conspiracy.
That is where the movie really starts to feel like the show again.
One of my favorite things about Ghost War is how quickly John Krasinski slips back into the role of Jack Ryan. He still plays Jack as someone who is incredibly intelligent and capable without making him feel like an unstoppable superhero.
Jack can handle himself in a fight, but what makes the character interesting is that he is constantly trying to understand the situation around him. He notices details, questions what he is being told, and usually realizes there is more going on than everyone first thinks.
That was always one of my favorite parts of the series, and the movie keeps that intact.
It was also great seeing Wendell Pierce return as James Greer.
The relationship between Jack and Greer has always been one of the strongest parts of this version of Jack Ryan, and Ghost War makes that relationship even more important because the conspiracy they uncover is connected directly to Greer’s past.
We learn that Greer and Nigel Cooke helped create a secret black-ops program called Project Starling after 9/11.
Starling was designed to operate outside the normal rules and restrictions of intelligence agencies. Its methods were brutal, and eventually the program was believed to have been shut down.
But Liam Crown, one of the operatives connected to Starling, never really let it go.
Crown is the main villain of the movie, and I thought he worked really well because his motivation fits perfectly with the kind of morally complicated stories Jack Ryan has always told.
Crown believes the world still needs organizations like Starling.
His plan is basically to create enough chaos and revive enough terrorist threats that governments will be forced to admit that programs like Starling are necessary.
That gives the movie a little more depth than simply having another villain trying to blow something up.
Michael Kelly returning as Mike November was another huge positive for me.
Mike became one of my favorite characters in the series, and having Jack, Greer, and November together again immediately makes the movie feel familiar.
There is already history between these characters, so the movie doesn’t need to waste time introducing everyone again.
If you watched all four seasons of the show, you already know who these people are and why they trust each other.
Sienna Miller is also a really good addition as MI6 officer Emma Marlow.
She becomes involved after Jack and Mike’s mission in Dubai goes wrong, and she quickly becomes an important part of the investigation into Starling and Liam Crown.
I liked that she feels like her own character instead of someone who was simply added to replace one of the characters from the series.
The movie also does a good job keeping the international spy-thriller feeling of the show.
Dubai and London are major parts of the story, and the movie still has that combination of intelligence work, government secrets, betrayals, surveillance, shootouts, and political tension that made the series so entertaining.
The story also becomes surprisingly personal.
Jack eventually learns that Greer knew far more about Starling than he originally admitted.
That creates some real tension between them because Jack is forced to question whether he can completely trust someone who has been his friend and mentor for years.
Greer, meanwhile, has to confront the decisions he made when Starling was created and whether some of those decisions helped create the problem they are dealing with now.
That was one of the stronger parts of the movie for me.
It isn’t just Jack trying to stop another terrorist plot.
It is also Greer being forced to deal with something from his past that he thought was finished.
The movie raises the stakes even more when CIA Director Elizabeth Wright is killed in a car bombing connected to Crown’s plan.
From that point on, everything becomes much more personal for Jack, Greer, Mike, and Emma.
The investigation eventually leads them back to Dubai, where they discover information exposing the Starling network and the people secretly working with Crown.
There is a large final firefight, Emma is wounded, and Crown is eventually injured.
Jack ultimately kills Crown when Crown reaches for his weapon.
The ending also sets up an interesting future for Jack Ryan.
After Elizabeth Wright’s death, Greer succeeds her as CIA director.
Greer then recommends that Jack be nominated to serve as his deputy.
I really liked that ending because it feels like a natural progression for Jack.
Throughout the entire series, Jack has constantly been pulled deeper into the intelligence world even when part of him has wanted a more normal life.
Now he is being offered the chance to help lead the CIA alongside Greer.
It feels like everything the character has gone through has slowly been building toward that possibility.
The biggest difference between Ghost War and the series is obviously the amount of time the story has to work with.
A full season of Jack Ryan had hours to develop its conspiracy, villains, and supporting characters.
This movie has about an hour and forty-five minutes.
Because of that, some parts of Project Starling and Crown’s plan move pretty quickly.
There were definitely moments where I thought this story could have easily been stretched into another season.
But I also enjoyed how fast the movie moved.
There really isn’t much wasted time.
Once the mission in Dubai goes wrong, the story keeps moving from one discovery to the next.
And most importantly, it still feels like Jack Ryan.
That is probably the biggest compliment I can give it.
It doesn’t feel like somebody took the name Jack Ryan and made a completely different action movie.
John Krasinski still feels like the same Jack Ryan we followed through four seasons.
Greer is still Greer.
Mike November is still Mike November.
The relationships and history between these characters still matter.
That makes Ghost War feel less like a spin-off and more like another chapter of the show.
Overall, I had a really good time with Jack Ryan: Ghost War.
It has the espionage, action, conspiracies, international locations, betrayals, and characters that made the Prime Video series so enjoyable.
John Krasinski continues to be great as Jack Ryan, Wendell Pierce brings a lot of weight to Greer’s story, Michael Kelly is always fun to watch as Mike November, and Sienna Miller fits naturally into the group.
The story probably could have used a little more time to develop some of its ideas, but as a continuation of the series, I thought it worked really well.
If you liked the Jack Ryan show, I think you’ll love the movie.
It feels like getting one more adventure with characters we weren’t quite ready to say goodbye to.
Final Verdict: 4/5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
A fast, entertaining continuation of the series that brings back the characters, espionage, action, and conspiracies that made the show so much fun.
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