By Paul Hall
Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) has become a bit of a loner since his service in the military. Though an amazing investigator with the military police, he also had a tendency to take things a bit too far. Reacher’s social call on a friend in Washington, D.C., morphs into an investigation and ultimately evolves into a fight for survival in the new film Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
Maj. Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders) has been in charge of Reacher’s former unit stationed in the nation’s capital. Upon his arrival for the surprise visit with Maj. Turner, Reacher learns that she has been taken into custody and charged with espionage. As Reacher’s investigative nature kicks in, he discovers that his friend is being unjustly charged and works to uncover the truth.
It will take some quick thinking as Reacher teams up with Turner to get to the bottom of a far-reaching conspiracy. The pair will need to gather every ounce of strength to not only keep themselves alive, but to also keep others they care about from harm.
The investigation takes Reacher and Turner to New Orleans. Will they find themselves lost in the Bourbon Street crowds or emerge with their reputations intact and the villains in custody?
What does one expect when walking in to this newest Jack Reacher film?
We want a lot of action and that’s exactly what Reacher delivers as every moment of the film features Cruise’s character running somewhere and punching someone. If that’s what you are looking for, you’ll find plenty of it here.
We want a story that engages us. Conspiracy theories abound when it comes to the government. They are stories that find a way to suck us in as viewers. This story seems a bit thin, but it is serviceable enough for the franchise to continue and be enjoyed. Make no mistake — it could be better and have considerably more depth, but we’ll take what we are given here.
We want our hero to have a love interest as strong as he is or not at all. In this film we get the talented Smulders, who takes a back seat to no one as she punches, kicks, chokes and dismantles the boys in a way that would make Ronda Rousey proud.
Director Edward Zwick gives us his take on the brooding loner that is Jack Reacher and it doesn’t always work here. It almost feels like Jack should be in the darkness more, but maybe this is just the lighter side of the Reacher character with more feeling and emotion present than we think of coming from the hardened “ex-major,” as he refers to himself.
I came away satisfied, though far from blown away, from Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Sure we have some of the typical Tom Cruise moments here, but that is not always a bad thing. The man known for doing many of his own stunts always adds a touch of realism that usually gets lost in other films to many of the action sequences. I went back and would go back again for Jack Reacher, and you should, too.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh
Director: Edward Zwick
Grade: B-
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