At one point in “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” Samantha, who may be Reacher’s daughter, played by Danika Yarosh says to Tom Cruise’s Reacher, “You are so intense.” Yeah. Reacher is either running really fast or beating the crap out of the bad guys. I’m a Tom Cruise fan, and here he is all intensity and little else. That is surprising. Cruise looks amazingly fit, and he has transformed into the formidable action star in the last 15 years or so. Though his performances usually balance his singular intensity and focus on humanity. I was excited that Cruise re-teamed with director Edward Zwick; they did “The Last Samurai”, one of my favorite movies. That movie was about warrior, honor, and compassion. “Never Go Back” is only about kicking ass. Granted the movie delivers a predictable payoff and does have a gentle endnote. I expected more eloquent with substance.
“Jack Reacher: Never Go back” is a fun movie, not a great movie. At times it is almost ridiculous how much running Cruise and Cobie Smulders as Major Turner do. The fighting scenes are amazing. Cruise has become a solid martial artist. The fight scene in the darkened warehouse is high impact. The movie adopts a compact street fighting martial arts style with crisp hooks, sweeps, and joint locks. At times the quick cut editing distracts. Smulders is up to the task. She holds her own with Cruise in a kitchen sequence with assassin The Hunter (menacing and strong Patrick Heusinger). Smulders refreshingly adds a motherly feel in relationship with Sam (Yarosh). Conversely, Cruise displays forced awkwardness in this perplexing parental theme.
The writing seems off. The key example is the vicious fight with Reacher at the story arc. The execution and emotional impact land clumsily. Zwick, Richard Wenk, and Marshall Herskovitz wrote the screenplay from Lee Child’s novel. I’m unfamiliar with the Reacher series. Based on the popularity of the books, I presume the material is solid. I also did not see the first “Jack Reacher” movie. Zwick worked with the other writers before, with their focal point being relationships and ideas. Here Cruise and Smulders do their valiant best to overcome the thin narrative. Yarosh is confined by the troubled loner of Sam, who now relies upon Reacher’s protection. However, the movie does work when all are going full speed and doing their best to save each other. Despite the loose story-line, we end up caring about the characters.
“Ex-Major” Reacher (Cruise) is drawn back into action when he discovers that his replacement Major Turner (Smulders) has been imprisoned in Army jail. Two of her officers she sent on a mission to Iraq were murdered. He also discovers the possibility of having a long lost daughter, Sam. Reacher does some digging. Consequences escalate, and soon he is forced to rescue Turner. Now they must uncover the cloaked conspiracy. They are on the run from both the authorities and The Hunter (Heusinger), who is paid to silence them.
“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is fun and delivers the goods. Cruise holds up his action star end and does his best. Smulders is great. She has genuine star quality. Too bad Zwick doesn’t craft a compelling or touching story to tell. In a way, this is disappointing for Cruise and Smulders, and really us as well.
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