The Series I KEPT asking them to do. They are now exploring. It is excellent.
Now Playing Podcast is the masterclass in how to talk movies online. They practically invented the art. So it is great to see them finally deal with the Jack Ryan franchise, because those films encompass geo-politics and are a lesson in what not to do in reboots.
The Now Playing team gets to the centre of what went wrong with the series: too little continuity and too much expectation attached to each new iteration. Their thesis is that the selling point was the world Clancy created and whilst Jack Ryan was a critical way in for readers and audiences, trying to make him the star attraction was a major misfire.
They also highlight the movies’ failure to move away from Russia as big bad, despite occasional attempts at finding new post Cold War adversaries. The podcast is a tad hard on Patriot Games but they ‘get’ why Sum of All Fears is so underrated and always worth a watch.
This series of episodes is a great listen: perfect intro both to Jack Ryan and to the podcast genre.
Recommended! 🙂
