Review of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) by Patrick L — 29 Jan 2017

"The screenplay is pretty much by-the-numbers and it doesn't help Mr. Cruise's case that "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" is yet another sequel nobody asked for.".

Movie Review: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

Date Viewed: October 25 2016.

Directed By Edward Zwick (Blood Diamond, The Last Samurai, Glory, Courage Under Fire, The Siege, Love and Other Drugs and Pawn Sacrifice).

Screenplay By Richard Wenk, Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz, Based on the novel "Never Go Back" by Lee Child.

Starring: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany, Austin Hebert, Robert Catrini and Robert Knepper.

If you're hoping for another "Mission: Impossible" sequel, you'll have to wait until 2018. Tom Cruise who always brings his charismatic charm and wit to his roles returns as Jack Reacher, a former military investigator now turned vigilante hero. Even though the female characters now have just as much screen time as Cruise, "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" features the same tired formulaic stuff from the first movie and it has a villain who really wants to take care of Reacher's daughter (OOPS! Is that a spoiler? You're welcome).

The first "Jack Reacher" never had anything that was smart or original except for a well-developed Tom Cruise character and some exciting action scenes. In "Never Go Back" however, the action is simply routine and not very exciting and Oh Yeah! Reacher has a 15-year-old daughter. WTF! The female lead this time is Cobie Smulders and she is capable of being a good action hero but since this is a PG-13 vigilante thriller the movie has to have one scene with her in a bra and have her engage in bitter disagreements with Cruise.

Don't get me wrong, despite his love for Scientology and his failing marriages, I like Tom Cruise a lot but "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" is one of his weakest action extravaganzas to date. The second movie involving Lee Child's ex-military cop hero revolves around Jack Reacher (Cruise) returning to his old military headquarters where he hopes to meet up with Major Susan Turner (Smulders). Reacher is shocked to learn that Turner has been accused of espionage and is under military detention for murders of two American soldiers in Afghanistan but Reacher believes that she was framed.

As you can imagine, Reacher breaks her out and now they're both on the run from the authorities. Turner's former boss Colonel Sam Morgan (Holt McCallany) orders an assassin (Patrick Heusinger) to go after them and Reacher's 15-year-old daughter, Samantha Dayton (Danika Yarosh). That's right everybody! Reacher has a biological daughter. Gee! Will the villain engage in "I will kill your daughter" talk with Reacher? Let the vigilante thriller cliches commence!

Apparently an old girlfriend of Reacher's filed a paternity suit against him claiming in legal papers that he is the biological father of Samantha. She later gets saved by Reacher and Turner from the assassin and they drive away hoping to find someplace safe for her. Unfortunately, Samantha gets to tag along with them as Reacher and Turner try to uncover a government conspiracy involving the deaths of members from their old unit. The conspiracy revolves around an army general named Harkness (Robert Knepper) and the film's climax takes place in New Orleans where the protagonists fight off the enforcers on multiple rooftops.

New Orleans also happens to have a Halloween-themed parade where most of the action takes place and wait a minute... did "Spectre" also have a Halloween-inspired parade? That's a little bit of spy-movie borrowing don't you think? Director Edward Zwick's once prestige career has finally taken a hit. The veteran director has mostly made epics and dramatic war movies with "Glory", "Legends of the Fall", "Blood Diamond", "Courage Under Fire" and "The Last Samurai" which also starred Cruise.

The dramatic elements involving the daughter go nowhere and the assassin whose name is never revealed is just your standard "I'm going to get your daughter and then kill her in front of your eyes" vigilante thriller cliche. This type of stuff mostly happens around Liam Neeson when he makes a "Taken" movie or a "Taken" knock-off. The screenplay by Zwick, Richard Wenk (The Magnificent Seven (2016), The Equalizer, The Mechanic, The Expendables 2) and Marshall Herskovitz is pretty much by-the-numbers and it doesn't help Mr. Cruise's case that "Jack Reacher: Never Go Back" is yet another sequel nobody asked for.