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Jack
Reacher
is based on the series of novels by British writer Lee
Child about a retired military police officer who happens to make an
excellent
detective and of course fighter. These books also make the perfect
airport
novels so if you're expecting a great literary work you might want to
give the
books and the movie a miss. Airport novels are generally designed to
give the
reader a quick way of escapism with a rather fast-paced plot, generally
lacking
anything substantial and a touch of adventure and intrigue. The same
can also
be said about the film.
In
essence, Jack Reacher is a fun Hollywood thriller
that is ultimately enjoyed at the time yet forgettable in the long run
due to
the clichés and blasé plot. In terms of story, it revolves around Jack
Reacher
(Tom Cruise), a former military officer of the military who is not only
quite
heavily decorated but has become a ghost since leaving the army. You
will only
find Reacher if he wants to find you.
However
when a former
sniper from the Gulf War called James Barr (Joseph Sikora) randomly
shoots five
innocent people, he is quickly brought into custody thanks to his
fingerprint
conveniently found on a coin at the scene of the crime. Ironically, he
asks for
Reacher by name. On the way to the gaol though, Barr is beaten to a
comatose
state. Through some twist of fate, Reacher is hired by Barr's lawyer,
Helen
Rodin (Rosamund Pike) who happens to be the District Attorney's
(Richard
Jenkins) daughter as she believes that her client deserves a fair
trial. Things
are never that simple.
While
Reacher begins his
investigation, he soon discovers that it appears Barr was set up by a
scarred
Soviet Gulag survivor called Zec (Werner Herzog) which creates this
wild game
of cat and mouse with the film being dubbed part Jason Bourne (true)
and part
Dirty Harry (also true). Even though the movie is cliché driven and
feels like
an 80's crime thriller, the saving grace of the film is Cruise himself.
He
plays the stoic
anti-hero perfectly and even though the world is falling apart around
him, he
never manages to raise his temper and keeps his cool. The character is
written
well, although in an 80's action hero type way. Complementing Cruise is
Herzog
who plays the cold-hearted villain well and would not look out of place
in a
Grimm brother novel.
The
real nemesis for
Reacher is Charlie, the right hand man of Herzog and is played by Jai
Courtney
(Die Hard 5). It will be interesting to see if he can break the mould
of his
character in the aforementioned film. There's even a great cameo from
Robert
Duvall that almost plays the father figure to Reacher and of course,
Rosamund
Pike who plays the damsel in distress and adds a touch of realism to
the plot.
In
the end, Jack Reacher is an average action movie
plot that features some great action scenes and one-liners. Cruise is
definitely the star of the film and even though some fans of the novels
may be
upset in his casting as apparently Reacher was 6'5" in the novels,
Cruise
is probably what this movie needed if there are to be other films in
the
future. It's a standard Hollywood action film that manages to tick all
the
right boxes but doesn't try to go out on a limb.
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