Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Review - Maybe He Should've Stayed Away

Certificate – 12A

Directed by – Edward Zwick

Starring – Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany.

Running Time – 118 minutes (1 hour 58 minutes)

 ★★★✩✩

IMAGE VIA PARAMOUNT

After getting a neutral reaction for critics and audiences it was a surprise Tom Cruise and Co even wanted to make a sequel and maybe as the title says they shouldn’t have gone back.

The story follows Reacher (Cruise), years after resigning from his job as command of an elite military police unit. However, Reacher comes back to the life he left behind when his friend and successor, Major Susan Turner (Smulders) is framed for espionage. Reacher will stop at nothing to prove her innocence and expose those really behind the murder of his former soldiers.

IMAGE VIA PARAMOUNT/ DAVID JAMES

See on paper, this film sounds cool and interesting. In fact, it was a generic, poorly written and a lot like a cheesy 90s action film and not in a good way.

The shining light is obviously Cruise. He carries the whole film by himself, but there’s nothing special about his performance compared to his performances in Mission Impossible. These Jack Reacher films have been mediocre at best.

IMAGE VIA PARAMOUNT/ CHIABELLA JAMES

As for Smulders and Yarosh, it was great to see two strong female characters in two different age ranges. With Smulders being this badass army major who got her fair chunk of the action, whereas for Yarosh was playing his bitchy teenager who just needs a hug.

I didn’t hate the film, the action was fun and all three characters have good banter and I like the chemistry between Cruise and Smulders.

It’s just forgettable and goes on for way too long; it should never have been two hours. It should have been an easy 80 or 90-minute film.

Verdict

A generic action film with a bad script and the only shining star was Cruise, but his performance was mediocre.