Review of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) by Lane Z — 31 Oct 2016

The first Jack Reacher I reviewed pleasantly gave us what seemed like the start of another solid action franchise led by one of our most charismatic action stars, Tom Cruise. Heck, he'd already (and continues to) crush it with the Mission Impossible series and his science fiction roles like Oblivion or Edge of Tomorrow rival the best. It's just a damn shame everything he did right (or at least the writers) in the first film turned into everything wrong with the second.

The first film had a sustenance to it bolstered by tight (and a lack) of dialogue, which was a positive, and a 90 minute run time, which never allowed it to slow down to the point of being tiresome. In Never Go Back, nearly 30 extra minutes has turned Jack Reacher into the next Taken. The plot is disastrous and feels contrived out of thin-air. It wasn't nearly as organic as the first film. I'm not saying the original had a script fit for the Oscars, but Never Go Back adds a stilted performance from Smulders and a throw-away job from Danika Yorosh. A 15 year old who looked at least 21 gave off weird vibes for the actress who was supposedly Reacher's daughter.

With one of the most underdeveloped villains of the year, Robert Knepper's screen time (come on he's always the bad guy) was about as short as the background you get on his character. What can make or break movies like this isn't how much the star of the show is supposed to be on screen, but how the rest of the movie ebbs and flows without them in it. Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Richard Jenkins and Robert Duvall added that flair that Never Go Back sorely lacks because of its insistence on following Tom Cruise in such a weird storyline.

Without much intrigue or style to keep viewers attentive or a storyline worthy of the "curveballs" they want you to think they are throwing at you, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back turns into a slow pitch softball game left for DVD rental.