Wow, this is some predictable, trope-laden horseshit, filled to the brim with stereotypes and impossible to swallow events. I mean, right from the first scene, we’re expected to believe that the CIA’s chosen undercover operative in Moscow is a fat black guy. In Moscow. A black guy. Chosen. By the CIA. To go undercover. In Moscow. A black guy. In Moscow.
I have barely seen anything more risible in this genre. So utterly predictable too. The first time we see his Senator friend from Venezuela, I said to my GF: he’s gonna die. Scene after scene of him demonstrating what a great guy he is. He might as well just said the words ‘I’m gonna die and that’s gonna be the thing that lights a fire under you concerning the main plotline, but in the meantime here’s another scene of me demonstrating how inhumanly lovely I am’ in every single scene. He might as well have been daubing a target on his head.
On the technical side, black levels are elevated (common on Amazon stuff) and highlights muted, offering a washed out, unsatisfying image at Amazon’s usual ‘significantly lower than Netflix’ bitrate. There are artefacts all over the place.
Amazon is having a laugh at your expense here. The series was shot on ARRI Alexa Mini cameras — which are NOT 4K (3.2k max, but less if the image is wider as the sensor on the Mini is 4:3). if you want to compare to what real 4K looks like check out See on Apple TV+, with its native 4K production pipeline, finely tuned peaks and blacks and a bitrate nearly three times what’s offered here. It’s night and day. Jack Ryan should be labelled 'HD+' or something because it is categorically not 4K, and I've seen plenty of 1080p streams with more pleasing images.
Sound quality is also not great. Very compressed, and the supposedly Atmos soundtrack sounds like a 5.1 upscale — as in not mixed in Atmos by an engineer, but mixed in 5.1 and algorithmically extended. I've become very attuned to telling the difference. It's easy, in fact.
All in all I hated everything about this and didn’t make it past episode 2.
4/10