‘Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse’ review: Well, I regret it.

Looking at the news cycle, I never thought that I would miss the Russians very much. He made the blockbuster film Villains during and immediately after the Cold War. Remember the violently incomparable Xenia Onatop of Fans Janssen in the 1995 James Bond film “GoldenEye”? Fantastic.

Now, the old-fashioned Russian foams are back in “Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse”, a very familiar revenge film that bears no resemblance to the original novel Michael B. Jordan as John B. Clarke.

Sadly, though, these lame-o Russians are no longer bursting with color and personality like St. Basil’s Cathedral in the red square. They are positively Siberian.

The cold-blooded villains begin after Navy SEAL John Kelly’s wife and unborn child (Jordan, the character’s name change is explained) are murdered during several murders on American soil. John survives, and goes into full Charles Bronson-in-“Death Wish” mode, murdering anyone without even being involved in a crime without government approval.

The best stop on his vigilante justice journey arrives early outside Dalles Airport. He slips into a Russian boss’ SUV, dips the car in gasoline, messes it up … and sneaks in? Yes, John interrogates Sloby in a smokey, vehicle oven, and then shoots him in the throat.

James Bond never did this. Roger Moore would not have dared to soak his ancient white tuxedo with blood and soot.

John, killed and delayed by countless flights, goes to jail, but still demands to be put on the team to kill the man responsible for his pain – Viktor Rykov (Brett Gelman).

“Sir, if this guy is as bad as you say he is, then you need someone like me. And there is no one like John.

Man, the word truer was never spoken. Jordan is great, but the film casts other strong actors such as Jodie Turner-Smith, Jamie Bell and Guy Pearce to fight alongside her and is rendered almost unconsciously. This is not to say that they are disappearing in their roles – they are missing a full stop in Mr. and Ms. Cellophanes.

See-thru SEALs secretly arrive in Russia via Leipzig, Germany, and it is there that the action scenes are niveive. Apparently, none of it was filmed in the real country – the Kremlin made that request a big fat “Nyet!” – So the film’s final 40 minutes are filled with repetitive indoor shootouts, which are too dark and anti-climatic to take care of.

Then, like a well-placed hoopé cushion, comes the laughable ending. I won’t take it away, but it borrows instruments from a Xylene thriller: a huge plot, a hidden tape recorder, a faulty exit. You looked and yawned at him. The final action scene takes the two previous ones and combines them into something incredibly incredible.

The last moment of the film tells much more to come. Actually, Clancy has written 20 books of John Clarke. But, even with a star as Jordan charismatic and physically, the audience will not be hungry for a sequel.