Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse (2021)

After starring in Black Panther and the Creed films, it’s safe to say Michael B. Jordan is ready for more action.

In this film, Jordan plays Sr. Chief John Kelly, a Navy SEAL who seeks vengeance for the murder of his wife and unborn child, as well as members of his team after their last mission, in which they took down Russian terrorists in order to save an American soldier. While the mission is successful, Kelly and his team thought that they were taking down Syrian terrorists, not Russians. Kelly loses men in the mission and blames CIA agent Robert Ritter (Jamie Bell) for giving bad intel. Due to the mission, the Russians respond by murdering Kelly’s wife and his comrades.

Before getting shot at his home, Kelly manages to kill a few Russians, and shoots the one who killed his wife, but that Russian manages to walk away. Kelly is left shot up and bleeding, mourning his wife and unborn daughter. Months later, Kelly attempts to regain his strength in order to encounter the Russian who got away.

In terms of cool and brisk action, this film delivers. In one scene, Kelly pours gasoline over a car, burns it, and goes into that burning car in order to interrogate a senior Russian official who knows the name of the man responsible for the murder of Kelly’s wife. The beginning and climactic parts of the film also contain critical ops shootouts, knife and hand-to-hand combat fighting, all of which are intense and well executed, including a scene in which Kelly and his new team try to outsmart a Russian sniper. There’s also an intense plane crash in which Kelly swims to save his team’s gear and equipment before running out of breath, as well as a brilliant prison fight in which Kelly takes down a team of heavily armed guards.

While this film doesn’t surpass previous films based on Tom Clancy’s novels, especially Harrison Ford’s Jack Ryan films (Clear and Present Danger being the best one) and The Hunt for Red October, Without Remorse gets the job done, due to the intense action set-ups and a commanding performance from Jordan, who portrays Kelly as a skilled professional who is determined to find answers, seek vengeance for his family, and justice for his country. The tragedy is that he knows his own government is also to blame due to the ongoing tensions between the U.S. and Russia, and that it’s easier to blame one man or team for this never-ending Cold War than for the American government to take full responsibility. Jordan also delivers a powerful monologue, explaining to his comrade how the U.S. has failed soldiers who have returned home.

While Jordan owns the film, Jamie Bell is also intriguing as suspicious CIA agent Ritter. He seems to be the mole who’s working with the Russians, and Kelly’s confrontations with him are some highlights of the picture. This is a reunion for Jordan and Bell, who shared the screen together before in the borderline gloomy Fantastic Four (2015) reboot. Both men play off each other well.

While this film offers nothing new, this has the potential to become a lethal series, thanks to Jordan.