Review of Jack Reacher (2012) by Thadd C — 05 Feb 2018

Jack Reacher is a surprisingly well-done crime thriller. There aren't many action sequences and the few there are aren't big and epic with glorious explosions to the tune of "Ride of the Valkyries" and the slow pacing can put off some audiences.

Good first impression as the first 8 minutes of the movie consist of an amazing opening sequence without a single line of dialogue. It helps set up a story that is riveting with no requirement of familiarity with Lee Child's series of books to understand the movie.

Note that I'm reviewing the film by its own merits meaning sorry for doing the horrific crime of not mercilessly assaulting the size problem regarding Reacher and Tom Cruise. The small amount of action sequences that there are in the movie are actually executed pretty damn well.

It's almost as if a cameraman was filming a documentary about a drifter who likes to beat people up. Tom Cruise is more than just a badass, he's a frickin terrifying guy. If you see Reacher giving you a dirty look almost as if he's prepared to beat you up then you'd better make like Shaggy and Scooby and run, run, RUN!!! I enjoyed the narrative technique used in this movie.

Mainly that the story is told in chronological order but we get to see flashbacks that provide a retrospective look at the opening sequence. I thought that Jack Reacher was going to be boring but I ended up liking it far more than I should've.

The moral of the story is: Crime thrillers don't need to be full of nonstop action to succeed.