Movie Breakdown: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Pre-Screening Stance:
Christoper McQuarrie wrote and directed the terrific Jack Reacher. For Never Go Back, it’s Edward Zwick pulling double duty. He’s certainly done some good stuff (The Last Samurai, Blood Diamond), but for whatever reason I’m just not that excited about him in place of McQuarrie. Tom Cruise will make it work though, yeah?
Post-Screening Ramble:
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a weird flick. I won’t say that it’s terrible, but it wasn’t what I was wanting and I definitely walked out of the theater feeling disappointed. The first entry into the series is such a fantastic murder mystery/thriller – a smart action film, if you will. In it Reacher is practically a genius and he can physically do anything he wants, but he still has to figure out what’s happening and you get to go along for the ride. In Never Go Back, Reacher appears to still be a great detective and capable of whatever, but writer/director Edward Zwick has no interest in having him (or the viewer) solve anything. Nope, instead he has Reacher stand around with a squinty face on as he tries to navigate his greatest challenge yet – a strong woman and a sassy female teenager. Gasp! Oh my! It’s the biggest example of “jumping the shark” that I’ve seen in a long while, and it’s so hokey that much of Never Go Back feels like a parody of the first film. Dammit. This should have happened in movie #5, not #2!
Unfortunately, this series went from being smart to dumb in the span of … one film. Oof. I don’t think you should bother, but then again, I also think that Never Go Back is more disappointing than awful, so some of you may dig it. See the film at your own risk.
One Last Thought:
Remember how Jai Courtney was great in the first Jack Reacher film because his character didn’t really have any dialogue and he only had to look cool? Well, the same approach should have been taken with Cobie Smulders. She definitely looks the part, but she can’t act. At all. When she talks I just see this.
