Jack Reacher

Jack Reacher is a pretty standard but enjoyable detective movie. Tom Cruise has helped to make a rather interesting central character. Sometimes its just fun to get caught up in a guy who is about to face five guys in a fight and gets cocky, saying something along the lines of it not being a fair fight… for them. And then proving it to be true. Sure its beyond cliche, but can be fun, and it is in this particular case.

Following the story, its easy to notice that this came from a paperback novel. The plot really has that mass market detective flavour to it. Which is sort of good in the way that it intrigues you in its mystery. But its also bad in that it can seem convoluted at times.

Tom Cruise pulls off a good action performance here. He does exactly what he needs to do to create a fun-to-watch bad ass. The sniper he faces off again, played by Jai Courtney, is good as his foil. However, Rosamund Pike who plays the lawyer teamed up with Reacher, is absolutely atrocious and does certainly bring the movie down when she’s on screen. Also Werner Hertzog as the main baddie, cool as he may be, doesn’t really fit in well. Robert Duvall also makes an appearance, and he’s just awesome as usual.

Jack Reacher is nothing outstanding, but it is an enjoyable watch. And lets face it, as much as we need great movies that challenge us, sometimes we also need movies that our middle-aged parents can just rent and enjoy for an evening. Jack Reacher is the latter.
7/10