Jack Reacher

Based on a crime series written by Lee Child, I was admittedly surprised when I saw the trailer for a second Jack Reacher film. I had been meaning to see the original following a relatively positive response from critics but it did seem like just another Cruise action flick from the trailer.

Tom Cruise has always been a solid actor for me in whatever role he chooses and, while his looks are a little too clean for the ex-military drifter type he plays, he is well suited to the role. The film itself starts off with a mysterious sniper opening fire on a crowd of people before fleeing the scene. An ex-servicemen is then targeted as the prime suspect before Reacher enters the scene to help Rosamund Pike try and make sense of it all. 

This in many ways has the feeling of a book adaptation and that's not always a good thing. Despite having never read the series, I understand this combines several plot-points from them and certain elements do feel rushed and sometimes under-explained. Whereas lots of dialogue can be great in a book, it can go against a film if poorly handled and while I admit there were some issues in its storytelling, director Christopher McQuarrie manages to still deliver a satisfying, almost old-school, experience.  

Missing from what I've seen in the trailer to the second film, Jack Reacher boasts a recognisable supporting cast that reunites Robert Duvall with Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo and Werner Herzog. While I felt some actors deserved a little more screen-time, all were good including Jai Courtney who usually gets slated by critics for most of his work. Going back to Cruise though, we do expect the 50+year old to get his hands dirty going the extra mile with his own stunts and the action is solid across the board, with a very neat Bullitt-esque car chase midway through. There are signs that this was on a budget but if anything that adds to realism with an entertaining final action sequence. 

Jack Reacher is ultimately an enjoyable experience but maybe not the most memorable. There are elements that would have been better suited to a feature length TV series but McQuarrie and Cruise work well together to keep things moving and exciting. Hopefully the sequel will smoothen the rough edges and improve on this.