It’s a jump from the small screen to … the small screen.

Prime Video’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan” series — which ran for four seasons and centered on John Krasinski’s version of prolific author Clancy’s CIA operative — is making the leap to a potential movie franchise. At least for now, though, it’s forgoing theaters and staying squarely within the walls of Amazon’s streaming service.

So does “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan: Ghost War” — debuting in your living room — feel like a cinematic event?

Well, we did experience it recently on the big screen, and the short answer is yes.

Thankfully, the largely entertaining affair marches to a peppier beat than the show, which can become bogged down despite its seasons being relatively short in terms of episodes. Plus, the movie is chock full of stronger visual elements — including a lot of what we’ll call “Dubai porn” — and reasonably impressive shot-on-location action sequences.

On the other hand, the cast feels relatively small-screen, with two other series regulars, Wendell Pierce and Michael Kelly, joined by franchise newcomer Sienna Miller.

After a brief, sharp-looking sequence in the beautifully shot, dazzling Dubai, we pick back up with Jack, no longer working for the CIA and enjoying a jog in New York City. His training kicks in when he believes he’s being followed, running and dodging to avoid capture, only to learn it’s just that his old buddy James Greer (Pierce), the deputy director of the CIA, waits in a nearby car, wanting an audience with his former colleague.

James wants Jack to travel to the Middle Eastern city, just to talk to a guy, he promises. Of course, Jack — declining the request but not exactly putting his back into the refusal — knows it won’t be that simple. And, sure enough, he’s quickly in the United Arab Emirates with another old agency pal, Kelly’s Mike November, who’s more playful here than in the series in the name of comic relief.

Before long, James’ contact, Nigel Cooke (Douglas Hodge of “The Great”), is killed, bullets are flying and Jack is making the acquaintance of a no-nonsense MI6 officer, Emma Marlow (Miller), who takes charge of the situation.

A few minutes later, we sit through Jack and James screaming at each other in the way we don’t remember them ever doing in the series, the scene bringing to mind the overly amped-up moments of 2005’s “Serenity,” the big-screen follow-up to the much-too-short-lived sci-fi-Western series “Firefly.”

The crisis they are now facing — involving the flick’s TV-level big bad, Crown (Max Beesley) — is a result of a questionable post-9/11, international and interagency endeavor called Starling, with James’ fingerprints all over it. This doesn’t sit well with Boy Scout Jack, despite his old partner’s assertions that it was a very different, extremely challenging time for the world and, as a result, the project was justifiable.

Soon enough, though, Jack, James, Mike and Emma — with the principled but pragmatic director of the CIA, Elizabeth Wright (Betty Gabriel, another player from the series), added to the fold — are all in lockstep working to bring down the dangerous Crown, who believes the most extreme measures are justified in the name of making the world a safer place.

Capably directed by Andrew Bernstein (“Ozark”) from a screenplay by Krasinski and Aaron Rabin (“Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” “Nobody 2”), with Krasinski sharing credit for the story with Noah Oppenheim (“Jackie”), “Ghost War” traffics in well-worn spy movie tropes. You’ll find no inventive storytelling here, but it all works just fine.

The best thing the movie has going for it is the dynamic established between Jack and Emma, who are presented as parallel characters, two people fighting for what’s right for their respective nations. Jack is no longer with girlfriend Cathy (an unseen Abbie Cornish), so you can’t escape the thought that there may be a deeper connection to explore between the two daring operatives in the future.

Simply put, there’s little to say about Krasinski’s portrayal. If you’ve seen the series, you’re familiar with his steady work as the character, played earlier in films by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck and Chris Pine. The former star of “The Office” is rock-solid as Jack, if not much more than that.

Pierce — an alum of “The Wire” whom we’re always happy to see — and the quietly compelling Kelly (“House of Cards”) continue to serve as highly effective complementary figures.

And while she may not be a huge name, Miller (“American Sniper,” “Foxcatcher”) brings a steely resolve to the proceedings, so more of her would be welcome in the future.

While it doesn’t end in a cliffhanger, “Ghost War” certainly leaves the door wide open for more “Jack Ryan.”

And hey, if this movie racks up the views, perhaps the next tale will make it to theaters, with bigger co-stars to boot.

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‘TOM CLANCY’S JACK RYAN: GHOST WAR’

3 stars (out of 4)

MPA rating: R (for violence and language)

Running time: 1:45

How to watch: Prime Video

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