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| The Sum of All Fears review by David Richards |
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 | | | Ben Affleck courts Bridget Moynahan in The Sum of All Fears |
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By David Richards
Grade: A
The Sum of All Fears is the fourth installment of the Jack Ryan series, based on the novels by Tom Clancy. The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger are the previous three.
Harrison Ford made the series famous, performing as the CIA agent Ryan in the last two, but Ben Affleck gives him a run for his money in this one, an explosive, frightening tale about a missing bomb and the helplessness people face when an unexpected terrorist attack occurs.
The subject matter shouldn't offend viewers too much as it was in production long before Sept. 11.
After it all wraps up, The Sum of All Fears has treated us to more non-stop action than Star Wars: Episode II.
The success of the series lies in its lead character. Ryan is a CIA agent, but we can still relate to him as a normal person, too. There are many times when Ryan seems like one of us.
It's obvious that the four films have no chronological order. In a previous installment, Ryan is married and his wife is pregnant. In this one, he simply has a girlfriend (Bridget Moynahan), who thinks her boyfriend is an historian.
Ryan isn't an historian, but working for the CIA on the trail of a bomb lost in 1973 in a foreign country somewhere. The bomb has now shown up on the black market for sale for a slew of million dollars and the prime suspect as far as the unlikable U.S president (James Cromwell) is concerned is Russian head Nemorov (Ciaran Hinds), who is depicted as a fair man.
Ryan actually knows Nemorov well, better than the U.S president does, simply because the 29-year-old agent has written about him and researched his career in depth.
Ryan's expertise is enlisted by fellow CIA agent William Cabot (Morgan Freeman), who develops a trust and a friendship for Ryan.
There is the obligatory villain thrown in, this time it's Alan Bates, who plays an extremist making the deal on the internet for the lost war head.
The Sum of All Fears is half setup and half follow through.
We watch the plot unfold in the first hour before being treated to a non-stop array of special effects and thrilling action.
Pay close attention to the scene where Freeman is at the Super Bowl and Affleck is trying to reach him by cell phone. Watch Freeman's eyes at the end of that conversation. That scene is a highlight.
The Sum of All Fears is one of the best action movies of the summer so far, if not the best. Affleck and company treat us to first-rate action in a series that has just received an unexpected jump start.
**** The Sum of All Fears is rated PG-13 for violence, disaster images and brief strong language |
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