Jack Reacher: Never Go Back catches up with the nomadic former military lawman, still doing his nomadic hero thing. Never one for big attachments, Jack (Tom Cruise) nonetheless starts to strike up a friendship with one Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), whom he check in with routinely. Eventually, the flirtation draws Reacher to Washington D.C., with the hopes of meeting Major Turner in person.
However, as soon as Jack steps off the bus, things start to go very wrong. Major Turner is arrested for the murders of two of her officers, and when Jack investigates, he’s met resistance. Of course for Jack Reacher, resistance is just an invitation – but when he pushes harder, things go sideways, fast. Before he has any real leads, Reacher finds himself in the middle of a conspiracy involving him and Major Turner being framed as deadly fugitives, while an unseen enemy dispatches deadly assassins to take them out. If that wasn’t enough, the bad guys soon find a weak point in Reacher’s past to exploit – something that completely changes the circumstances of Jack’s life.
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Directed by Edward Zwick (Last Samurai, Blood Diamond), Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a rare action movie misfire for star Tom Cruise. The film gets lost in an overcomplicated storyline and isn’t particularly pleasing to look at, resulting in a sequel that has all the quality of a bargain bin B-movie.
Zwick’s work with Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum cinematographer Oliver Wood was probably meant to be gritty and visceral like that aforementioned action series; however, Zwick’s more traditional staging of scenes and action is totally at odds with “the Bourne approach.” It’s that mismatch that creates the B-movie look of Never Go Back, and manages to create the least impressive Tom Cruise action film in years. That’s not to say the action itself is bad (Cruise is still willing and fully able – and his Avengers co-star Cobie Smulder holds her own), it’s just that it’s hard to appreciate the punches, gunshots and chase scenes when the aesthetic is so poor.
In terms of a story, Never Go Back is a big disappointment. Along with Zwick, the script work by B-movie action scribe Richard Wenk (Expendables 2, 16 Blocks) and Nashville writer Marshall Herskovitz is not surprisingly hokey, thin, and (worst of all) filled with dramatic cheese. The film’s plot is also over long, and overly convoluted, yet results in some of the most underwhelming reveals one could imagine. That includes a wasted villain role (more like bonafide cameo) from Robert Knepper (Prison Break), as well as a subplot about Reacher’s personal life that arguably derails the entire film and only pays off a few dividends by the end. Never Go Back tries to be an action film, and a character drama, and manages to mishandle both.
As stated, Tom Cruise is still fit for work as an action star, displaying just as much hard-hitting intensity as ever. His version of Reacher (though diminutive) is still a witty sardonic badass, and Cruise has more fun this time leaning into that persona. The only redeeming aspect of Reacher’s personal story in the film is that it gives Cruise excuse for some comedy banter, as Reacher’s dry sarcasm is a great juxtaposition to the more emotional and dramatic moments.
Cobie Smulders is a great co-star match for Cruise, able to bring both her How I Met Your Mother comedic wit and Marvel Cinematic Universe action chops to the table. Major Turner is far from your usual damsel in distress, and Smulders arguably shows capability for a leading action role… albeit in a better film. Along with Smulders is Danika Yarosh as the other female lead, whose wit is just as strong as her more experienced co-stars, creating a great ensemble trio who give the film at least some kind of pulse, where it would otherwise wither from tepid action and a meandering pace, with little other sense of purpose.
Making up the bit parts are strong character actors and/or action actors, who are mostly wasted. That includes Aldis Hodge (Straight Outta Compton), Robert Knepper (Prison Break), Holt McCallany (Blue Bloods), Madalyn Horcher (Gracepoint), Jessica Stroup (Iron Fist) and Patrick Heusinger (Quantum Break).
In the end, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is really just Jack Reacher: sequel that shouldn’t have been made. Cruise overcame massive criticisms of miscasting to create a unique and fun action movie with the first installment, but Never Go Back is simply a backwards slide that only adds fuel to the fan fire that the property is in the wrong hands. After this, Cruise may need to place his bets on a new franchise to bank on, in between his never-ending Mission: Impossible series.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is now in theaters. It is 1 hour and 58 mintues long, and is Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence and action, some bloody images, language and thematic elements.
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