Jack Reacher review

Based on the crime novel One Shot by Lee Child, here comes the blockbuster action-crime film that can either restart Tom Cruise's career and start a franchise, or break his already tarnished reputation. All I can say is I'm glad to inform you it's the former, not the latter.

Jack Reacher:
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, an unidentified man, possibly ex-military, goes to a parking garage and fires five shots, killing five seemingly random people, including a single mother/maid, a college-age nanny, and a few business men and women. When all the blame goes to an ex-military sniper with a history of violence, he calls for "Jack Reacher", an ex-military man and former investigator with no records who is impossible to find. As the DA is going over his file, Reacher arrives, and with the help of the DA's attorney daughter, uncovers a case bigger than the DA or top detective Emerson can believe, which puts Reacher and his partner at risk, and might expose a conspiracy involving a construction business, which may run deep into the DA's office. Other than some minor plot holes and some ego-stroking by Cruise (all women faun over him), this film is actually well-done, and Cruise, in my opinion, is starting to redeem his career with films like this and last December's Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Without bringing Cruise's very complex and somewhat strange personal life into play, Cruise is great as the funny, witty, extremely smart, and most of all, bad-ass Jack Reacher. This is actually based on the 9th in a series of 17 novels featuring this character, and maybe we'll see a few sequels ahead of us in the future. Unlike this passing October's critical flop Alex Cross, another crime-action film based on a successful novel series, Jack Reacher delivers in full with action and some well-done comedy bits. Besides Cruise, the cast includes Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under, Cabin in the Woods, Killing Them Softly), Rosamund Pike (Die Anothyer Day, pride and Prejudice, Johnny English Reborn, Barney's Vision), Werner Herzog (the German filmmaker behind Fitzcarraldo, Grizzly Man, and Cave of Forgotten Dreams), David Oyelowo (Last King of Scotland, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Lincoln, The Help, The Paperboy, Red Tails) and Jai Courtney (Spartacus: Blood and Sand). Funny, a lot of the cast are either English or Australian. Although not as action-packed as the previously mentioned Ghost Protocol or as satisfying and emotional as Skyfall, the film has some great emotional scenes and some top-notch action set-pieces, including a spectacular car chase, one of the best in years, and a thrilling and satisfying shoot-out/climax. There are also a few brief, but overall entertaining fight scenes, one of which is played for slapstick, which works brilliantly. At first glance, I thought this film was gonna bomb, but due to the positive critical and audience response, I decided to give it a go, and I'm glad I did. The chemistry between Cruise and Pike is impeccable, and the mystery, while near the end you may guess what's going to happen, is still engrossing and leaves you on the edge of your seat, waiting for the next puzzle to be solve and the next piece to be unravelled. Jack Reacher is an entertaining, slick, edge-of-your-seat thrill ride that you won't soon forget. 4/5 stars.






 (Photo credits: Wikipedia, Google Images.)