"Clear and Present Danger", while grander and more daring (with its secret war premise) than its predecessor oddly comes off as just an adequate sequel. The ingredients were all here, it was just undercooked.
Casting's just as solid as it was in "Patriot Games" on top of Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones, now we have Harris Yulin, Henry Czerny, Willem Dafoe and Joaquim de Almeida (always a badass).
But the film's real excitement doesn't heat up until the third act, when Ford and Dafoe band together to clean up the mess. And I'd argue that Dafoe or even Yulin are the more interesting characters in the grand scheme of things (even poor Jones' death lacks impact, as he never had time to develop character). And the bad news is that, by the time we get to the good parts, it kinda felt like a chore getting there.
6/10
Just how "Hollywood" or outlandish did the premise for "Clear and Present Danger" seem in the mid-'90s? Seems these days, it'd be a piece of cake to get an illegal war going.
Also, Ford's epic staredown with the Prez is a crowd-pleaser.
Casting's just as solid as it was in "Patriot Games" on top of Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones, now we have Harris Yulin, Henry Czerny, Willem Dafoe and Joaquim de Almeida (always a badass).
But the film's real excitement doesn't heat up until the third act, when Ford and Dafoe band together to clean up the mess. And I'd argue that Dafoe or even Yulin are the more interesting characters in the grand scheme of things (even poor Jones' death lacks impact, as he never had time to develop character). And the bad news is that, by the time we get to the good parts, it kinda felt like a chore getting there.
6/10
Just how "Hollywood" or outlandish did the premise for "Clear and Present Danger" seem in the mid-'90s? Seems these days, it'd be a piece of cake to get an illegal war going.
Also, Ford's epic staredown with the Prez is a crowd-pleaser.