Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season Two - Blu-ray Review

Movie
Let me get this out of the way. I’m still shocked at how big John Krasinski has gotten over the last 4 or 5 years. I still think of him as that nerdy guy from The Office (well, the American reimagining of the show) and now he’s gone on to star in movies, directed several (including the fantastic A Quiet Place) and now bulking up and hunking out as a modern Jack Ryan! Don’t get me wrong. It’s not that he wasn’t good in his previous rolls, but my brain still thinks of him as a goofy sitcom star and not a big hunky action star with directorial aspirations. Well, times change, and so does Jack Ryan it seems.

The show is not really an adaptation of Tom Clancy’s books with the CIA analyst solving Russian world problems, but a complete reimagining of the character, and sticking to broader concepts instead of just one of Tom Clancy’s novels adapted for the silver screen. The first season took the internet by storm when Amazon Prime launched it a couple years back, (our review HERE) and I was eagerly awaiting the return of another season, only to start hearing word of mouth that it completely dive bombed in the second year. I heroically held off watching the season until this last week, plugging my ears and going “la la la la!!” to avoid spoilers (lets be real. I just didn’t renew my Amazon Prime subscription till 2 months ago and was too lazy to check it out streaming). Well. There’s good and there’s bad here. The good is that the second season isn’t nearly as bad as I was led to believe, and the bad is...well...the show isn’t as good as the first season by a noticeable amount.

Early on in the season we catch wind of new villain. This time in the form of the collapse of the Venezuelan economy as Jack Ryan proselytizes to a classroom of students keeping rapt attention. Venezuela’s president (played by the king of Latin villains, Jordi Molla) is basically a complete jackass, and the country is on the verge of collapse due to his excesses and mismanagement, playing into the black vs. white mentality villain mentality that the series thrives on. Once again Jack Ryan is called out into the field, but now he’s a changed man. Instead of rambling on about “just being an analyst”, he follows the call of his mentor Greer (Wendell Pierce) and becomes a real life superhero. Going full commando on us and takes on a more James Bondesque character, instead of the soft spoken wordsmith who gets caught up in something bigger than himself.

The show thrives on it’s action moments, but suffers under the blatant simplicity of the season’s premise. The action can only take us so far before the mildly bland plot that is a distinct step down from season 1, and Krasinski’s likable “every man” persona can only soften that loss so much. Now, before you go on thinking that this is some abortion that destroys the show, calm down. It’s not a horrible horrible thing, but season 2 definitely lacks the focus and nuance of the previous year. Krasinski is famously interviewed as saying that season 2 is more morally ambiguous, but I tend to disagree. It’s almost painted in such black and white good vs. evil scenarios that it’s overly simplistic, rather than being ambiguous or mysterious.

Krasinski is still the star of the show and he really sells it. His likable persona makes him a good Jack Ryan, even if Jack Ryan is no longer Jack Ryan thanks to switching him to a James Bond type persona in this season. However, Wendell Pierce continues to do an amazing job as a younger Admiral Greer, and additions such as Noomi Rapace and Jordi Molla really elevate the characters from cardboard cutouts to fully fleshed out heroes and villains.




Rating:

Rated TV-MA by the MPAA




Video:

Season 2 was once more shot in 2.00:1 (a more and more common aspect ratio, especially in Television) and looks even better (if my eyes are anything to go on) to the already good looking season one. The digitally shot show is impressively detailed and certainly digital glossy. Fine details abound everything midst the slightly stylized show, and colors really pop off the screen. Faces are crisp and delineated, and the warmth and amber hues really shine through. One thing I did notice that has been a part of the show since season one is that the black levels sometimes look a bit milky. There’s plenty of shadow detail, but the milky blacks look really at times.








Audio:

The Dolby Atmos track is still a stunner, and probably my favorite part about the show. The season features impressive bass, and very nuanced sound placement throughout. Rolling waves, thudding helo blades, and soft ambiance alike get equal amounts of attention to detail. The background mumble of a classroom is crystal clear, as is the shouts and yells as bullets fly by overhead. Overheads are used rather well, with a some discrete overhead usage and a sense of airiness to the track that makes is lightfooted. All in all, great track and an excellent auditory experience.
.






Extras:

• Deleted Scenes











The simplicity of the season as well as the obvious change of making Jack Ryan into a super commando spy are a definite step down from the fantastic season 1. It’s not a major issue, but it’s enough to where I felt this season suffered in a noticeable way from it. Hopefully something that season 3 can recover from, and judging by the ratings, not a death knell for the show. Once more, Paramount’s Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, even though the tech nerd in me longs for a 4K UHD release. Worth it as a solid watch.



Technical Specifications:

Starring: Noomi Rapace, Abbie Cornish, Ali Sulman, John Krasinkski, Wendell Pierce, Jorid Molla
Created by: Carlton Cuse, Graham Roland
Aspect Ratio: 2:00:1 AVC
Audio: English: Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Core), French, German DD 5.1
Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, German, Spanish, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Norwegian, Swedish
Studio: Paramount
Rated: TV-MA
Runtime: 368 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 4th, 2020