Geeks logo

Without Remorse: A typical War story

Tom Clancy's Without Remorse is a fairly formulaic attempt at starting a universe.

By Reel VibesPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
Like

Tom Clancy has always been a name synonymous with spies and under cover operations. Over the years there have been multiple attempts at creating universes surrounding his characters. The latest is Amazons attempt in Without Remorse.

John Kelly and his unit are tasked with rescuing a hostage in Syria when they realize things aren't what they seem and have actually stumbled upon a Russian Arms depot. 3 months later Kelly has returned home from the war to be with his expectant wife but in the middle of the night she is killed by Russian operatives. Kelly is shot and left for dead and when he wakes up and heals he will stop at nothing to figure out who was behind this.

It was the typical war movie feel where the good guy is motivated by a devastating personal loss and it's supposed to be questionable whether his intentions are out of revenge or not. It's always fairly clear in a movie like this they are because he literally says it like 5 times and still gets included in the final op. It's evident that the bare bones of the plot revolves around deceit and betrayal but the question is always at what level and which character should we focus that suspicion onto.

Michael B Jordan is tasked with leading this one and he's likable. His grief after the loss of his wife and daughter shows his range of emotional capability but ultimately his character is too much of the rough house action star to make it matter all that much by the time the movie is done. Jordan is a franchise type actor as evidenced with Creed but that's because that movie had heart and soul while this one had explosions and gunfire but little else in the way of making it a character drama first.

The story plays out like a Call of Duty game would. Intense action in between an average story about military conflicts between Russia and the US. It's fairly serviceable if you are simply looking for just another action flick to watch but it doesn't move the stick in any other aspect. The action looks like the studio spent the money to make it look authentic but the story like mentioned is very predictable. What it boils down do is finding excuses to build war and make profit and unify the people and that's not a new concept in the line of War films. Neither is seeking revenge for a lost loved one. So the two key elements it looks to sell audiences on are both over used and out of date.

Jordan really is the key to this film and he sells it. Jamie Bell is also fairly enjoyable in his role as for most of the film he is seen as the villain by Kelly only for us to learn the truth near the end of the film. It was a cool attempt to play if off and Bell was able to do it. It's just that left only one other option as to what the truth could be. By the end of the film we know what the true motive is. To set up the most well known Tom Clancy title "Rainbow Six". If that was the true intention of the film it was an odd choose to bury that in the credits. If you know anything about the character it was fairly clear the film was heading in that direction. It was just an attempt to add one more twist after another and it stopped working once the truth was figured out. Sometimes less is more and the world building was enough to show us what we needed to know.

It will likely get a sequel because it's a bingeable film with not a tremendous amount of violence and it's not a very complex story to follow. The sequel has plenty of possibility but I hope it tries to come up with a story that isn't as painfully obvious about it's true intentions. It would be nice to see the studio try and move away from genre conventions and make a powerful movie with plenty of commentary. Without Remorse is a basic action film with a likable cast and that's why it likely spawns atleast one sequel.

movie
Like

About the Creator

Reel Vibes

All things pop culture. Movies, TV, Music,Comics as well as some dabbling into the Sports world. If you can record it, watch it and play it back. I have an opinion.

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.