Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Following the modest success of Jack Reacher, based on Lee Child's series of books, Tom Cruise managed to persuade the producers to come back for round two with Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. The series follows drifter/homicide detective Reacher as he finds himself involved in solving various murder cases and this time he's caught in a government conspiracy.

The original 2012 action flick turned out to be better than I expected with good writing that made way for strong characters, a charismatic Cruise and action sequences that benefited from a tighter budget which added a sense of realism. It wasn't perfect but the cast that also included Rosamund Pike, Robert Duvall, David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog and Richard Jenkins all added something to the story as Reacher investigated a series of shootings by a military sniper. When the trailer arrived for the 2016 sequel, I was immediately struck by the lack of names attached and the idea of an action film with what looked to be very little action. Neither are the tell-tale signs of a bad film of course but alarm bells were certainly ringing.

Regardless I went into this with an open mind while reassured the experienced Edward Zwick was in the directing seat but, oh my word, did something go terribly wrong. The film begins strong as we see a bunch of guys unconscious outside a diner with Reacher sitting inside while the police show-up. They arrest him but a phone wrings and it turns out one of the officers was corrupt who is then arrested, and Reacher walks free having solved another case. If I can give Zwick praise, it would certainly be for how he treats Reacher which must also say something positive about his working relationship with Cruise but this has to be the most pedestrian film these two have ever made.

The premise feels like a feature length CSI/NCIS episode with Cobie Smulders' Major Turner being framed for espionage and is forced to go on the run with Cruise to find the bad guys. With the right screenplay this could have been a decent action flick but there was never a moment of excitement due to dull, poorly constructed fight sequences, run-of-the-mill snidy villains and a story that is just hard to care about. If you watch the trailer it even tries to create the illusion of there being another great car chase but in reality it's barely a few shots of Cruise smashing through some fences. Apparently this had the same budget as the original but, even without the big supporting cast, this comes away looking cheaper.

But the biggest crime this film commits *minor spoiler* is revealing that Reacher has a teenage daughter at an misguided attempt to add a sense of humour which damages any potential this film once had. Not only does it damage Reacher's character Cruise had spent time developing but she is also used as a plot device in ways that will surely aggravate fans to such a degree I didn't know what film I was watching. Is this based on a crime series or a kooky Disney TV show?

It is a real shame that Jack Reacher: Never Go Back feels like a straight-to-DVD sequel as the original had potential. I'm not sure how this went so wrong given the wealth of material Lee Child has to offer but hopefully this doesn't spell the end for the series if they can just bring the original director, Christopher McQuarrie, back for one more round. Maybe he'll never go back after this.