Review of “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back”
- Jim
- Oct 30, 2016
- 1 min read
* * * B
In the second installment of the Jack Reacher films, based on the the books by Lee Child, Reacher (Tom Cruise) befriends the woman who took his place in the US Military Police, Major Turner (Cobie Smulders, who plays Agent Hill in the Avengers). When she is arrested, he breaks her out and the two go on the run to solve the mystery behind her arrest, and the shady company of ex-military contractors that are involved. To spice things up, Reacher is told he has an illegitimate daughter, Samantha (Danika Yarosh) who gets drawn in to their misadventures.
The movie is fun, high paced, and full of action. The romance between Reacher and Turner works fairly well, though their conflict at the end of the second act made little sense, probably due to over-editing. The relationship between Reacher and Samantha works much better, as he has no idea what to do with a headstrong young teenager who is a lot like him. I found the ending a little sappy, and predictably serial: Reacher ends up almost exactly where he started.
There is some decent supporting work, particularly by Robert Knepper of the ill fated third season of Heroes and relative newcomer Patrick Heusinger. The writing is solid but unoriginal. Overall, this was a good film, but will probably leave the same weak lasting impression as the first episode.
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