Tom Clancy's Without Remorse ★★

Stefano Sollima

Starring Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Guy Pearce, Lauren London

With a great action movie, often comes a gripping character relationship at its' centre. So what happens if that relationship is torn apart?

In Stefano Sollima's Tom Clancy's Without Remorse that idea is explored as John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan) has his family taken away from him in a tragic attack on his house one night.

Everything up to that moment of turbulent plot is exciting. With a thrilling set piece to open the film the characters already begin to feel strangely familiar. With Tom Clancy books and games often comes stealthy missions and undercover ventures, but here the film very much centres around a revenge narrative.

Michael B. Jordan seems at home in this action-man role but he's a much better actor than this. No time is given to him to mourn the loss of his wife (which happens right at the start of the film, not a spoiler), instead he just dives into tracking down the killers. This feels like a waste of performer and a slight waste of plot device. It would be fair to label it a use of Fridging; Kelly's wife (Lauren London) is murdered and that motivates Kelly's actions for the remainder of the film.

With lots of testosterone, a lack of artistic flare and no exciting characters to root for, this feels like a dated action movie. If you're a fan of the Tom Clancy books/games, don't expect this to be anything alike.

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse available now on Amazon Prime