Jack Reacher, a new action thriller based on the highly successful series of books by British author Jim Grant, sees homicide investigator, Jack Reacher [Tom Cruise] involved deep in a case which involves a trained military sniper who shoots five victims.
Jack Reacher is a first rate thriller which sees Cruise at the top of his game who also helped produced the movie. It’s thrilling, action packed and offers more twist and turns than an adrenaline fueled roller coaster.
Jack Reacher: The good
The highlight of the movie is Cruise who plays the mysterious protagonist, Jack Reacher with confidence and the type of bone crunching, white knuckle action we haven’t seen him bring before, this isn’t like a Mission Impossible movie where he uses gadgets and has the help of a highly equipped team, Reacher is a an island he’s on his own. This movie is a darker, edgier and moodier.
The other highlight is the villain played by Werner Herzog as “The Zec”, a shadowy figure, who’s intentions throughout the film remain unclear, but put it this way you wouldn’t want to meet him in a dark alley. An earlier and particularly nasty scene in the movie suggests this as it sees “The Zec” force one of his henchmen to eat his own fingers in order to show his loyalty.
The main henchmen, “Charlie” played by fast rising star Jai Courtney, who starred in TV series “Spartacus” and is already starring in the upcoming 5th addition to the Die Hard franchise A Good Day to Die Hard, which is out 14th February 2013.
There is great additional support from Richard Jenkins as an investigator caught up not knowing the events that are spiraling around him.
There is also Robert Duvall who shows up in a small cameo as a shooting range manager
The action is fast, furious and non-stop and offers some break neck action sequences that live up to the 12A certificate, such as a high speed car chase through alleys and motorways, close combat fist fights [one great scene in particular which takes place in a suspects bathroom], as well as bar brawls and street fights.
Jack Reacher: The bad
Whilst Jack Reacher satisfies as a great action-thriller, some of its characters seem undeveloped, the villain “The Zec” doesn’t get enough screen time and seems only there to tease the audience as you don’t fully understand his intentions. David OyeLowo [Rise of the Planet of the Apes] is a strong character and bounces off great dialogue between his character and Cruises, but fails to give off any chemistry with some of the other characters.
Conclusion:
Overall, Jack Reacher is an excellent thriller that does the books justice and offers a strong and confident central performance from its leading star. The film also boasts of some pulse pounding action scenes that could stand toe-to-toe with a Bond movie.