The Sum Of All Fears

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The Sum Of All Fears (2002)

The Sum Of All Fears:

Here we have the latest installment of a Tom Clancy novel turned Hollywood blockbuster. Supposedly, The Sum Of All Fears is sort of like a prequel to the other Jack Ryan movies as the character is new to the C.I.A. and still learning the ropes. I don't think it's officially a prequel though as the movie is not backdated to take place before The Hunt For Red October (1990). As far as we can tell, it is 2002 in this movie and the first of the Jack Ryan movies would have taken place in the 1990's sometime. Trivial stuff aside, Sum actually adds up to a pretty good action/thriller. We watch as the U.S. and Russia track each other's nuclear arsenals to make sure that dismantling treaties are being followed. When three Russian nuclear missile technicians go missing, suspicions are raised and everyone is on alert. A nuclear bomb somehow makes it to Baltimore and now the U.S. is blaming Russia and Russia is more than prepared to defend herself. Only Jack Ryan can find out who is behind all this before the launch of a full scale nuclear war. Ben Affleck is the one who gets to play a younger Jack Ryan character than we're used to seeing in his predecessors, Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford. I won't say that Affleck's the best out of the three, but he definitely holds his own and that's saying a lot considering the company he's in. Some say that the subject of a nuclear bomb threat in the United States is a touchy subject considering recent events, but it's actually very appropriate to parallel what is currently going on in the world. That way, the suspense and fear of the onscreen situation is that much more effective. My only beef is that the villains were changed to Neo-Nazi fascists instead of the Middle-Eastern terrorist faction originally in the book. Also, you do get somewhat of a formulaic feel when watching the movie, but that's a minor flaw. In any event, Sum is a good fast-paced thriller that will have everyone on the edge of their seats most of the way.

-Tso