'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back' Review

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back returns to the life of ex-major military cop Jack Reacher and almost immediately one of his new allies, Major Turner his replacement as military police officer, is incriminated for espionage and Reacher's pulled into the mess and must prove both their innocence along with handling his past.

I'm not a huge fan of it's precursor Jack Reacher, but I will certainly admit it was a solid action flick and unfortunately that can't quite be said for this addition. Edward Zwick directs the sequel, filling in for Christopher McQuarrie seeing as he's moved on to other Tom Cruise collaborations, and has difficulty pulling Never Go Back out of the doldrums considering there's little to no energy or charisma present in the painfully long hour and fifty eight minute runtime, trust me it felt more like two and a half hours. 

The cinematography from director of photography Oliver Wood looked stale compared to the previous Reacher film and evokes modern action genre tropes by utilizing shaky-cam. The actions sequences were admittedly exciting in the moment but were rather forgettable because I can't remember much beyond the punching I've seen Cruise execute a million times in the trailer. 

The screenplay cooked up by Zwick, Richard Wenk, and Marshall Herskovitz based on Lee Child's novel Never Go Back finds itself overcrowded with extraneous plot lines, and unnecessary characters that just seem forcibly inserted in the story. Trust me, nobody that enjoyed the first Jack Reacher wants to add an angsty teenage girl to the mix and that's just what the screenwriters did. 

Tom Cruise puts on a steely gaze as Reacher, putting in tons of commitment into the stunt work but almost sleeping through his dialogue delivery. Cobie Smulders has a nice show in supporting capacity as Major Turner, certainly living up to the physicality of the role and performing up to par with Cruise in regards to combat sequences. While it was nice to see Cruise and Smulders run alongside each other, since Cruise is notable for his action sprint in many an action film, the duo don't have much chemistry whatsoever. All their moments and humor intended to bounce off one another fell flat and simply felt forced. 

Danika Yarosh plays the obnoxious teenage girl to a tee, serving as a one-note plot device, but her character detracts more from what's in play than what she brings to the table. Really no other performance was worth noting because they were all so bland and devoid of energy, especially Reacher's dull foes. 

Like it's predecessor Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is an uninspired action movie filled with predictable clichés and genre tropes but also features some notable action sequences worth watching. It fulfills it's purpose of being a by the numbers action movie but it never really exceeds that, and in some cases is even worse. If you really want to see a better film that was released this year about two investigators and a sassy young girl, I'd highly recommend checking out The Nice Guys.

Film Assessment: D+

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Jack Reacher'

This week I'm reviewing Jack Reacher as my Throwback Thursday Review to tie in with the release of it's sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and next week I will resume my Harry Potter series with my thoughts on Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince to be followed up by Thor the subsequent week. Reviews you can expect in the meantime include Jack Reacher: Never Go Back and Keeping Up With the Joneses. At this point I haven't decided if I will be watching Inferno considering that I had no idea it was part of an existing franchise I haven't seen and therefore didn't fit in the earlier films into my Throwback Thursday schedule.

 'Jack Reacher' Review

Jack Reacher shadows ex-military investigator Jack Reacher as he must help solve a case involving five deaths or an innocent man may stand trial for murder he claims he didn't commit. Jack Reacher was based off the Lee Child's ninth novel in the book series One Shot and it certainly delivers in the action department as you can expect from a Tom Cruise-led action flick.

Jack Reacher marked the first of what became a regular team-up between writer-director Christopher McQuarrie and Cruise that thankfully has brought us Live. Die. Repeat. and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, two terrific action films. McQuarrie's execution, both in direction and his screenplay, is precise, to the point, and fairly well done across the board. McQuarrie cleverly keeps the story personal, ensuring to never raise the stakes too unbelievably high and still maintain an air of realism. I will say the twists were minimal, somewhat predictable, and the villain was one-note, but McQuarrie sure knows how to direct an action scene; including an insane car chase, some visceral hand-to hand combat scenes, and the occasional shoot-out.

The cast is composed of a number of name talent actors and while they do a fine job, they're serviceable at best. Tom Cruise is as charming as ever in the role of Reacher, pulling off the action man swagger only he can. Rosamund Pike fairs well as damsel-in distress lawyer Helen Rodin while David Oyelowo makes for the standard cop.

Jai Courtney plays an precise marksman and formidable physical presence opposite Cruise but has little development for his character whatsoever, and Werner Herzog is as creepy as it gets in his minimal screen time as "The Zec," and Robert Duvall's Cash is a welcome presence.

When it comes down to it, Jack Reacher is what we've come to expect from modern action thrillers and that's precisely it's problem. My biggest qualm with Jack Reacher is that it feels as though it's merely going through the motions, never standing apart from other franchises in the crowded action genre. It's not so much that Jack Reacher is bad, so much as that it's a generic action film. While the stakes and scope in Jack Reacher feel incredibly small, the action sequences are so well executed that it's worth watching at least once and makes for a passable action movie.

Film Assessment: B-