The first clip from Kenneth Branagh's Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit is now online and it's a doozy.  Since Chris Pine (Star Trek) is stepping into the title character's shoes for the first time, his toughness has to be established right off the bat; this clip does just that.  Not only does it show that Ryan can handle himself as a CIA analyst turned operative, it highlights his greatest asset: not a physical attribute, but rather his strategic mind.  I also like the fact that this extended clip shows the repercussions of Ryan's actions rather than just sweeping them under the rug.

Also starring Kevin Costner, Keira Knightley, Nonso Anozie, Colm Feore and Branagh himself, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit opens January 17th.  Hit the jump to watch the extended clip and for more commentary from the actors.

Check out the first clip from Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit below (via Yahoo!):

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Since this film made it onto my "Most Anticipated" list for the first quarter of 2014, I'm happy to say that this clip does nothing to temper those expectations.  By extending this clip to go beyond the fight itself in order to show Ryan's interaction with Harper (Costner), it's already established itself as "smarter than the average actioner". Pine agrees, saying:

"His weapon is his brains — he thinks and moves with his mind faster than other people."

Costner also comments on his own character, as follows:

"Some guys are born for management and some guys can straddle it and go back and forth, they’re more comfortable in the field, don’t mind being there. Some guys were never meant for the field. I think he’s a person who can straddle."

Now all the marketing has to do is sell me on the relationship angle of this picture, which could conceivably make or break the whole thing.

Here’s the official synopsis for Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit:

Based on the character created by bestselling author Tom Clancy, “Jack Ryan” is a global action thriller set in the present day.  This original story follow a young Jack (Chris Pine) as he uncovers a financial terrorist plot.

The story follows him from 9/11, through his tour of duty in Afghanistan, which scarred him forever, and into his early days in the Financial Intelligence Unit of the modern CIA where he becomes an analyst, under the guardianship of his handler, Harper (Kevin Costner).  When Ryan believes he’s uncovered a Russian plot to collapse the United States economy, he goes from being an analyst to becoming a spy and must fight to save his own life and those of countless others, while also trying to protect the thing that’s more important to him than anything, his relationship with his fiancée Cathy (Keira Knightley).

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