Jack Reacher (2012) Review

Jack Reacher (2012)

Jack Reacher follows Jack Reacher, who, following a sniper attack that killed 5 people, comes to Pittsburgh to fulfill a promise, only to learn his old army acquaintance may have been framed, forcing him into an investigation with more secrets than answers. 

Let’s get the obvious out of the way—I’m fully aware how inaccurate this is to Lee Child’s original source material (see Amazon’s Reacher for a much more faithful adaptation). That said, despite it’s many, many faults, I’ve always held a weird soft spot for this flick. Whatever the reason may be, there’s a lot to find interest in here, from a pretty good cast, to action that’s complemented nicely with some equally as impressive cinematography. 

Like I mentioned though, there’s a lot of faults, most of all in its story, which starts out strong, with a mysterious multiple murder, of which Reacher’s “friend” is framed for, that divulges into some silly scheme to acquire a business, (a lot of work just to steal a lady’s construction business) and for shits and giggles, Werner Herzog is here (though why, I cannot quite figure out). To make things worse, Cruise’s portrayal (like I said, not accurate at all) of Reacher is chock full of every silly action hero cliché in the book; overconfident, strangely unstoppable, and way too full of himself, though I’ll admit, his smarts are a nice touch. 

We get pretty good cast, starring Joseph Sikora, Alexia Fast, Werner Herzog, Richard Jenkins, David Oyelowo, Robert Duvall, Jai Courtney, Rosamund Pike, and Tom Cruise. This was kind of the film that put Courtney on the map and it’s fitting because he’s just a ton of fun, though he’s clearly no match for Cruise’s unstoppable Jack Reacher, who’s like 1 ability shy of being a superhuman asshole. 

Jack Reacher, directed by Christopher McQuarrie, is about as standard an action flick as you’ll see these days, full of all the obvious clichés and tropes, though still a pretty fun thrill ride with a fun little mystery at the center of it all. 

7.1/10