Review of Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) by Greg C — 21 Oct 2016

Apparently someone decided to rebrand a Liam Neesom movie. We have a man with special skills. There is fighting, driving, and shooting. There is a rebellious teen "daughter" who's main role seems to be one of needing protection, due in part to activity of her own making.

Is she going to use a traceable cellphone or sneak out of the safehouse at night when she knows that her life is under threat from world class bad guys? There is pursuit by a heartless mercenary. This movie is an inferior product to the last Cruise/Zwick outing, The Last Samurai.

The production values are OK. The chases and fights are OK. Mostly, the screenplay co-written by directory Ed Zwick feels a touch lazy. I don't know the Lee Child's Reacher series source material, so I don't know how much of the problem is there.

This is basically a mindless summer action flick which just happens to be released a bit later in the year. So let's discuss a good note. Cobie Smulders (Agent Hill in the Avengers/Shield universe) plays Major Turner who is one tough woman.

She is smart, ass kicking, and far from 2 dimensional. The best thing this movie has going for it, is the exploration of the evolution of gender roles. Responding to Turner's anger, Reacher says, "Are you angry that I treated you like a woman, or are you angry that I treated you like a man?".