"Jack Reacher" isn't going to rock your world. You won't go around quoting it with your friends. You probably won't rush out and buy it and watch it every few months. You will, however, have a really good time for 2 hours. What more is there for me to ask of a movie?
"Jack Reacher" is a pretty basic story. A horrible crime is committed. A badass is called in to investigate. A corporate conspiracy is unearthed. People are punched. Guns are fired. It is the execution of such generic action schlock that is the key to "Jack Reacher" being so enjoyable.
This is not a smart movie. The dialogue is just enough to get the story across and Jack's sass talk and one-liners are mostly groan worthy. "Jack Reacher" is a film that rests upon its actors, its fast pacing, and its steady action. So, let's examine those 3:
1) THE ACTORS-Tom Cruise is just Tom Cruise. He's just coasting on his natural on screen charisma. But as I stated earlier, I never get sick of that. Rosamund Pike is great in a role that goes from audience surrogate (she's there to have the plot explained to her) to damsel in distress. But she makes those thankless jobs seem more weighty. Plus, she's lovely to look at. Werner Herzog (the fucking incredible director who's every film should be on your "must watch" list) lends his eerie voice and general weirdness to a extremely unwritten villain role. Herzog makes you believe he is pure evil whom men fear enough to give their lives up to him. But the story doesn't do that, he does by just being Werner Herzog. Finally, Robert Duvall shows up at the end to be fucking awesome (but like Cruise and Herzog, he's just being Duvall).
2) THE PACING-"Jack Reacher" starts and ends with a whole bunch of people getting shot. Everything in between is a relentless march to that finale. It may have some stupid moments in it, but every scene is there to progress the story forward. It never lets up and it never boring.
3) THE ACTION-I was so upset that there are no behind the scenes documentaries on the disc I watched, because I really wanted to learn about the rigs they must've used for the big car chase. It is a scene that relies heavily on real cars hitting real cars and plenty of high speed city driving. The action in this scene and the others, be it fist fights or shootouts, is always coherent and well filmed. Director Chris McQuarrie and his second unit team never give in to shaky cam or chaotic filming. It's nice to watch an action film when you can follow the action.
"Jack Reacher" is just a pleasing movie experience. It's better than it deserves to be and I'm fine with that. If you need a way to kill 2 hours, I can think of worse ways to do it. Check it out.
7 out of 10
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