Yo, El Mayimbe here with another Stu Beattie classic!
The guy delivers, period. Hence, why I think he should at least be considered to write
G.I. JOE. He knocked it out the park with
SPLINTER CELL, and his draft of
SPY HUNTER was on point.
The guy knows how to properly plot military and black ops-themed screenplays and convey the inner conflict these characters face in their journeys. He could easily plot a
G.I. JOE movie and come up with an inner conflict for either the Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow conflict or the Snake Eyes and Scarlett conflict. But regardless, a military-themed adaptation written by Stu is always a pleasure to read.
I was originally going to do the script review when Singleton was attached to direct
WITHOUT REMORSE and Joaquin Phoenix was circling the role. Then it got to Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and then Paramount put it into turnaround and it was forgotten. That sucked.
With the recent news at Cannes that Relativity Media picked it up and wants to do it early next year, I got excited and recently re-read the script. I read the book back in college, and it was the only Jack Ryan book I ever read. Stu Beattie contemporized the story and I think it works. A lot from the book remains in the script, except that the plot and the characterizations are set in present day. Whereas the book had Clarks background as a Vietnam veteran, the movie Clark is a 27-year-old former Navy Seal commando who dealt with the current Middle East and Iraq situations. Think of it as a re-launch, kind of what they did when Ben Affleck played Jack Ryan in THE SUM OF ALL FEARS.
Without Remorse is a spin-off of the Jack Ryan universe of books. A bestseller back in 1993, WITHOUT REMORSE is an origin story. Just who is John Clark? Parallels can be drawn between John Clark and Jack Ryan, who both exist within the same fictional universe (Ryanverse). Clark is more capable of bending the rules and operating outside the law than Ryan is, so Clancy uses him in grittier roles. Clark also loathes the "desk work" that Ryan typically finds himself "at home" doing. Clancy himself has stated that John Clark is the "dark side" of Jack Ryan.
In other words, wetworks, a man of action or simply put
A BAD MOTHER****ER, and trust me folks, a bad mother****er John Clark is.
Here is a quick synopsis of what WITHOUT REMORSE is about.
Clark originally joined the Navy (as John Terence Kelly), where he became a Navy SEAL and participated in several special operations. After his first tour of duty, Kelly retires from the service, but is later re-hired by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for another mission in the Middle East. At the same time at home, Kelly is carrying out his own war against a drug ring that killed his girlfriend, Pamela; while he succeeds in taking it down brutally and efficiently, the Baltimore police eventually identify him as the man who murdered the drug dealers. In response, Kelly fakes his own death and goes to work for the CIA full-time, under the pseudonym "Mr. Clark."
Relativity wants to start a franchise with the John Clark character and they have the smarts enough to do it with Stu Beatties spectacular script. John Clark could be this generations John Rambo. I think Brandon Routh is still a solid choice, but I would love to see Joaquin Phoenix dig into Clarks inner turmoil.
The setup in the script, like the book, is that the greatest enemies facing America today are terrorism and drugs and, inevitably, these two enemies have become one. ROBERT RITTER (from the movies) gives a briefing to various law enforcement agencies at the CIA. The new face of terror, Jemaah Islamiah, the Al Qaeda of Asia, or JI as the CIA calls him, is going to hit the Americans while the CIA is still worrying about Bin Laden.
JI is responsible for several attacks in recent years, including the bombings of the two Bali nightclubs, attacks that killed 200 people.
Who has been sponsoring JI? The Americans. Sales of South East Asian heroin account for up to a third of JIs estimated annual income. This heroin is being smuggled every day through our ports and across our borders.
The CIA is working around the clock watching JI in Indonesia. The guy spearheading that mission in Indonesia is ROBIN ZACHARIAS. Ironically, what the CIA doesnt have are people on this side of the fence, the American side. Ritter needs snitches, informants. Ritter needs someone who can help him find these smugglers and shut them down.
That is where John Clark will fit in.
In other words, drug dealers are working stateside with terrorists Al Qaeda coke.
How are they linked with John Clark?
In the beginning of the script, he is devastated when his pregnant wife is killed in a car accident. He limits himself to seclusion. Six months later, Kelly meets a girl named Pamela who is involved in the sex trade and drug trafficking, and he becomes involved with her. Soon after, Pamela is recognized and they are attacked while Kelly attempts to reconnoiter the drug operation that Pamela was involved in. Kelly is critically wounded, and his girlfriend is captured, raped, tortured, and killed.
From this point on, Kelly takes charge, both in a private war against the drug business which killed the girl, and in a military operation to free Zacharias, who eventually gets captured by Al Qaeda.
In the book, Kelly and Pamela are romantically involved; in the script they are not.
In his private war he kills a dozen drug dealers in exactly 10 minutes without any of those mother****ers getting a shot off and Clark eventually learns the location of Billy, a senior lieutenant in the drug ring who killed Pamela. He captures Billy and tortures him in a Navy recompression chamber to gather further information about the drug ring. Its these same drug dealers that are selling the Asian heroin.
By this time, on page 55, Ritter, knowing what Clark did, recruits him into the CIA to find out just who Billy was working for stateside and to rescue Zacharias.
At this point, Clark goes after his enemies WITHOUT REMORSE. Clancy fans will be pleased because all his know-how about technological and military operations and protocol are here in the script, just as in the other Jack Ryan movies.
When the solid third act kicks into play - the rescue mission of Zacharias
all hell breaks loose. We see the man formerly known as John Terrence Kelly become the badass known to Ryan fans as Mr. Clark. I actually liked Liev Schreiber as Clark in the Ben Affleck SUM OF ALL FEARS and saw the potential of the Clark character having his own spin-off. The third act also has a surprise twist that Clark has to dismantle, but I wont spoil it here.
In closing, a solid adaptation and, like I said before, another Stu Beattie classic! Be sure to check it out when it hits theaters and stick with us for further updates as it develops.
HASTA EL PROXIMO CAPITULO
YO SOY EL MAYIMBE!
but wasn't expecting the linking of the 2 stories in the fashion it's done,still it sounds promising.
