Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher shouldn’t work. Fans of Lee Child’s novels objected to the casting of Cruise as the character because he’s not the hulking, 6-foot-5 force from the books. But more than the physical characteristics, Cruise and his megawatt smile didn’t seem to embody someone who chooses to live as a drifter, who would seemingly prefer to be left alone.
Yet somehow, it works. Cruise’s first effort as the character in 2012’s Jack Reacher was an underrated success, more a testament to the actor’s star power than his suitability for playing a popular literary character who was probably long overdue for a movie adaptation. Maybe someone like Ben Affleck or Joe Manganiello could fill the role’s physical requirements better. But could either of them carry such a movie like Cruise? (Maybe The Accountant was Affleck’s attempt to play a Reacher-like character.)
A sequel, Never Go Back, presented an intriguing possibility for what Cruise might do with Reacher. Though the Mission: Impossible franchise is hardly a character study, he’s developed Ethan Hunt into a compelling character. Hunt willingly sacrificed a happy life because his chosen profession put a loved one in danger. He’s devoted to his teammates. He’s probably a little bit crazy, seemingly convinced that he can do almost anything.
[link_box id=”36688″ site_id=”1″ layout=”link-box-third” alignment=”alignright”]Unfortunately, the one person who may have helped Cruise build upon what was established in the first Jack Reacher film didn’t come along for the follow-up. Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote and directed Jack Reacher, passed on those same duties for the sequel. Ironically, it was Cruise’s signature franchise that prevented McQuarrie from working on another Reacher project. He was too busy with the fifth Mission: Impossible movie, Rogue Nation, to be available.
McQuarrie was replaced by a perfectly competent director in Edward Zwick, who worked with Cruise on 2003’s The Last Samurai. Actually, Zwick has made some interesting films during his career, including Legends of the Fall, Courage Under Fire, Blood Diamond and Pawn Sacrifice. But those were projects that he was presumably invested in as a filmmaker. Zwick didn’t develop this project himself; he stepped in for McQuarrie as a work-for-hire assignment.
Unfortunately, that seems obvious throughout Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. The first Reacher film was a big deal for McQuarrie, just his second directorial effort after 2000’s The Way of the Gun. After the failure of that movie landed him in “director jail,” as he put it, he clearly relished the opportunity to once again helm a feature film, this one headlined by one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. McQuarrie didn’t squander the chance. The script was compelling, the action was thrilling, and the cast was populated by several talented actors, including David Oyelowo, Rosamund Pike, Werner Herzog and Jai Courtney.
None of that applies to Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Many critics and fans give Courtney shit for his lack of acting talent, getting by on his physical talents to play meathead action roles. But this movie could have used someone like Courtney, someone who is at least a memorable face, enjoys playing a bad guy, and poses some sort of threat to Cruise.
No disrespect meant to Patrick Heusinger, who plays Reacher’s nemesis — and apparent equal in fighting and investigative skills — but he’s just a guy here. There’s nothing distinguishing about him, certainly nothing fearsome or formidable about him. We’re supposed to believe that he’s a ruthless adversary because that’s what the story needs us to believe. But there’s absolutely nothing compelling about this villain, even when we’re supposed to hate him because he has no reservations about hurting or killing innocents if it means getting to Reacher.
Holt McCallany (Lights Out), who’s stuck in a virtually useless role as one of the corrupt military officials attempting to frame an Army major (Cobie Smulders) wondering why two of her soldiers were killed in Afghanistan, would have been a far worthier adversary for Cruise here. Hell, he played just such a role in 2010’s The Losers. Put Cruise against a guy who could probably kick his ass and the climactic fight scenes would have been far more intriguing.
Actually, Heusinger’s rogue military operative isn’t even supposed to be the true villain of this story. The person calling the shots is apparently a crooked general named Harkness (Robert Knepper), who’s attempting to smuggle drugs into the United States through arms shipments coming back from the Middle East after they couldn’t be sold to other militaries. Yet other than a couple of scenes where Harkness is sitting by a phone, ordering his operative to keep trying to find the incriminating files compiled by Smulders’ Major Turner, and a sequence involving the questionable arms shipments, he has virtually no presence in this film.
Turner has potential as a partner for Reacher, someone who is equally driven by code — though probably believes more in the military than an institution than Reacher does — and an obligation toward those under her command. The story initially presents her as a potential romantic interest for Reacher, but thankfully doesn’t pursue that. Just because Reacher might be intrigued by someone who potentially sees the world the same way or who is better at her job than he once was when he held the same position doesn’t mean they have to get together.
Unfortunately, Never Go Back does try to humanize Reacher by introducing a character who may or may not be his daughter. This is a huge misstep by Zwick and co-writers Richard Wenk and Marshall Herskovitz. Child introduced this storyline in the source novel, but that was after more than a dozen novels during which readers got to know and love the character. Giving him a possible daughter that he hadn’t been aware of for 15 years was an intriguing development. But the film version of Reacher hadn’t earned that sort of turn after only one movie. Who cares if he has a daughter? Yes, we know he’s a drifter, but such a revelation has no power with an audience barely familiar with this character.
What’s most surprising about this movie is how lackluster of an effort it is by everyone involved. Even in movies like Knight and Day or Oblivion, which aren’t franchise turns for Cruise, he appears to be giving everything he has on screen. Maybe he’s supposed to be portraying someone who’s worn down here. But it comes across as a paycheck effort, like Cruise is playing Reacher again because he has to, not because he wants to.And if Cruise doesn’t care, then why should we?
The people weren’t exactly shouting for another Jack Reacher movie, so he probably could have done something else. Even the action scenes, which could have salvaged this film, are small and have no energy. Even if the story and character development is lacking, give us some great action. The first Reacher film had some thrilling shootouts and a final fight which was worth the wait. But this is surprisingly lackluster, almost like a TV movie. Zwick might be the first director to make New Orleans look uninteresting. There is no spectacle here.
Maybe the best thing about Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is that there are several scenes involving Reacher and Turner either running away from someone trying to kill then or running after someone who can help their investigation. The important thing is that Reacher runs, which means Tom Cruise runs, something he’s done in so many of his movies. Smulders runs with him, which again points to the potential her character had as a sidekick for Reacher. (She seems like the only person who wanted to be in this movie.) But eventually, she’s just left behind. Cruise ultimately runs alone, man. After this, he should leave Jack Reacher alone.
