THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (2002)

Completely disregarding the first three Jack Ryan films, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS casts Ben Affleck as a young CIA analyst who is an expert on a lesser known Russian figure (Ciaran Hinds) who is suddenly announced as the new Russian president, after the old one unexpectedly kicks the bucket.  Because of this Ryan is summoned by CIA Director (Morgan Freeman).  At the same time, the Nazis get their hands on a nuclear bomb.  Soon, tensions rise between America and Russia, so it's up to Jack Ryan to save the day.

I really enjoyed the first three Jack Ryan films, but TSOAF just didn't have the same magic to it.  Not only was Affleck unable to fully portray character first played excellently by Alec Baldwin and then perfected by Harrison Ford, but the story didn't feel very original.  Blah, blah, blah, missing nuclear bomb, yelling and posturing, helicopter crashing, fast typing...I don't know, the supporting cast was really good (except for Ryan's girlfriend, she was boring), but the direction was so bland and the story so played out that there was little tension.

At the end of the day, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS made money at the box office and it is watchable, but it's easy to see why this reboot failed to garner any sequels.

Part 1 - The Hunt for Red October (1990)
Part 2 - Patriot Games (1992)
Part 3 - Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Reboot 2 - Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

THE TOWN (2010)

A bank robber (with a heart of gold) falls in love with a woman (with a heart of gold) and even though he wants to go straight, he can't because he's too deep into the hoodlum lifestyle. That's the story to about 66 million crime/film noir movies over the years. Still, for some reason, despite the unoriginal story, the two dimensional characters and the pedestrian direction I liked this movie. I guess I just like this story.

Ben Affleck plays Ben Affleck with a Irish accent. He was raised in a shitty neighborhood and now he's a bank robber. During one robbery they kidnap a girl then let her go on the other side of town. He fears that she can I.D. them, so he goes to see what she knows. They instantly fall in love. Didn't see that coming.  [Rolls handsome eyeballs.]  When he's not all blinking butterfly lasers at her over pineapple pizza he's out robbing shit and shooting cops.

Entertaining shootouts, exciting car chase, zero nudity, lots of cussing, endless macho posturing. Enjoyable movie, worth a watch, but we've seen it all before.