Jack Ryan: Ghost War review: A see-through secret agent

As one of the All-American answers to James Bond, Jack Ryan has lived many lives, traveled the world to topple a few international villains, and been played by actors like Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and, now, John Krasinski. Ryan is often stoic, sometimes vulnerable, and (if he isn’t already married to the job) relatively monogamous compared to his MI6 counterpart. But it’s only taken six movies for Ryan to feel tired and predictable, without any real sense of direction of how to keep the franchise moving forward—an issue that’s now facing the owners of both Bond and Jack Ryan, Amazon MGM Studios. Jack Ryan: Ghost War [editor’s note: the full title of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War is way too long to keep repeating] is a straightforward spy movie without excitement or intrigue, like a training exercise to keep Krasinski busy. Even the franchise’s main distinguishing factor, its rah-rah patriotism, is no match for a few moments of product placement from the Saudi tourism board.

After four seasons of Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, the CIA analyst and former Marine has quit the spy life for a slice of civilian calm. Well, not for long, as Ryan’s former boss Greer (Wendell Pierce) corners him outside of Marc Jacobs’ bookstore in New York City to recruit him for one more mission after his contact went missing with potential intel. Whisked off to Dubai and London, Ryan realizes the situation he’s in runs far deeper than the simple mission pitched by Greer. Now he must thwart yet another international conspiracy to keep the peace and save his friend/ boss from yet another assassination attempt.

Far from the state-meddling politics of the show’s middle two seasons, Jack Ryan: Ghost War returns to its meat-and-potatoes spy vs. spy business. As the plotty but not too complex story unfurls, Greer reveals that the real intent behind the mission is to stop an old War-On-Terror-era colleague who’s gone rogue and wants to stir up trouble by propping up terrorist attacks and misinformation. Somewhat like Mission: Impossible—Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan: Ghost War forces the heroes to go off the grid to fight back, initiating a game of half-truths and covert plans to root out the secret cabal of evil spies.

Unlike the daredeviling stunts of the Mission: Impossible series or the breakneck camera moves that give Jason Bourne some flavor, Ghost War lacks any distinguishing features. Director Andrew Bernstein is dutiful, but the longtime TV helmer produces work that, fittingly, wouldn’t look out of place in the middle of a Saturday afternoon binge of the TV series. It’s drab and pedestrian, with no excess polish or grit to give the film its own visual identity.

This isn’t helped by Krasinski—who not only serves as the movie’s star but also its producer and co-writer—who plays Ryan with reserve, safely unemotional. This time, Ryan is the reluctant hero back for one more job, and there’s a sense that Krasinski is doing the same, clocking in at the acting factory for another paycheck. Ryan and his colleagues muse on their lack of a social life outside the spy business, noting that his last relationship (which viewers saw in the TV series) didn’t pan out. While the script gives him a flirtatious rapport with MI6 agent Emma (Sienna Miller), their chemistry barely registers onscreen.

So many of the previous Ryanverse entries share a spirit of American exceptionalism, allowing a CIA analyst to play the good guy to restore peace in other countries, their intelligence communities, and within his own ranks. That means it’s especially notable that there’s an extended scene between Ryan and ex-agent Mike November (Michael Kelly) marveling over the first-class accommodations aboard an Emirates flight—complete with free champagne! Later, in Dubai, as Ryan and company are heading into another confrontation with the enemy, a Saudi liaison boasts about the surveillance and security in his city, calling it “one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world,” which essentially “stops crime before it happens.” Dubai has been courting and chasing Hollywood, but it’s funny to see them so prominently praised in a franchise known for its American propaganda.

Yet, by the end of Jack Ryan: Ghost War, Greer is writing a letter to the president that if the ideals the CIA seeks to uphold are “based on lies, then our institutions begin to crumble, making us susceptible to division, even infiltration.” It’s a sentiment that reflects a softening of Jack Ryan’s headstrong leadership style from the series, making him less of a lone wolf and more of a team player—just a guy who wants a sense of normalcy in a world that can’t help but keep falling into trouble. While the move is more subtle than the series, it doesn’t feel definitive, leaving the hero of the movie as more of an enigma than the covert operations themselves. In a time of real-life surprise wars and dictator-snatching, what Jack Ryan has to say is deeply uninspired.

Director: Andrew Bernstein
Writer: Aaron Rabin, John Krasinski
Starring: John Krasinski, Wendell Pierce, Michael Kelly, Sienna Miller
Release Date: May 20, 2026 (Amazon Prime Video)