Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse

David Cease, Staff Writer

Without Remorse is the newest Tom Clancy action thriller starring Michael B. Jordan. (David Cease)

Without Remorse is the newest Tom Clancy adaptation made by Amazon Prime starring Michael B. Jordan. After his wife and unborn child are murdered and he is critically injured in an assassination attempt, decorated Navy SEAL Sr. Chief John Kelly (Michael B. Jordan) is determined to find out who wanted him dead and why.

After completing his rehab, and with the aid of a friend and fellow SEAL Lt. Cmdr. Karen Greer (Jodie Turner-Smith), he is given the name of a Russian diplomat and is authorized the hit on his family. 

With intense action scenes and good performances from the cast, Without Remorse is a great pick for a movie night, but some viewers may be disappointed with the implausibility or semi-formulaic plot (if they don’t know how to just enjoy things). 

At first, Amazon’s “Without Remorse” seems like it follows the revenge movie blueprint of something like “John Wick” – John Kelly’s rage at losing his wife due to the government’s lack of transparency and greed, although delivered so well by Michael B. Jordan, is neither surprising nor confusing.

However, the pain and betrayal he specifically feels from the country that he served have a different layer than in other films because it’s the age-old story of the broken contract between the United States and those who build, serve, and protect the country. 

More good news is that the action in Without Remorse is pretty great and there’s a lot of it. Michael B. Jordan’s performance carries the movie through both some intensely emotional scenes and equally intense action scenes. Although the plot takes some conventional paths, the movie is an inherently enjoyable action cinema blast. 

It succeeds in presenting a character entirely different from Harrison Ford’s or John Krasinski’s Jack Ryan, which exist in the shared Tom Clancy universe. Although it’s not Hunt for Red October, Without Remorse is a very enjoyable sequence of intense action scenes and will keep viewers engaged at least until the end.