Jack Reacher is based on one of the books from the Jack Reacher series of novels written by Lee Childs. While I have not read these books, I had heard that the main character of Reacher was 6'5", 250lbs and blond, so basically the complete opposite of Tom Cruise who plays Reacher in the movie. So while I was not having high expectations, since I had not read any of the books I really had no idea what to expect from Jack Reacher. Jack Reacher is the tale of an ex-military investigator who is brought in on a heinous crime believe to be committed by an ex-military sniper. As Reacher digs into the evidence, we are taken on the journey as the crime is really not what it seems on the surface. Jack Reacher is a movie that does not try to be anything other then a movie that is a solid one and is one that is on the high end of its genre. It does not try to be revolutionary, but instead it gives a great action thriller that are not given to audiences nearly as often anymore.
First off, while Tom Cruise does not meet the physical appearance of Jack Reacher from the books, yet the way he plays the role he is somehow able to embody the part perfectly. The cerebral aspect that Cruise brings is simply perfect. After having seen the movie I read some about the series and found that while he is physically intimidating in the end it is all about his intellect to work to figure out a crime scene that makes Reacher who he is. Rosamund Pike in the role of Helen, the defense attorney is a different role then most female roles for an action movie, simply put her character is a full character and not the "Bond Girl" or "Lara Croft" type heroine, but we get to see her complete character with glimpses of her doubts, anxieties and her conviction. Werner Herzog plays The Zec, mysterious main antagonist who while extremely creepy, I would have loved to have got a lot more behind the reasoning for his plan. They kept his character so mysterious that while Herzog played this well, it left me wanting more. The supporting cast all work well, particularly the henchmen as they are perfect for what you need in a good action thriller.
The story for Jack Reacher was not exactly what I was expecting going into seeing the movie. This is another one of those movies where the trailers give a completely different feel for this to be an action fill explosion fest of a movie that is simply a pedal to the metal action movie. Instead Jack Reacher is a thought out, methodical action thriller that really has an old school feel to it. With this being based on the novel "One Shot" it has made me want to go and read this story and see how I like it. The direction by McQuarne works really well as he took the story and made it a great journey in which the audience is taken on and makes you just sit on the edge of your seat throughout. The pacing is set at just a perfect pace as it did not move so fast that everything happens that it makes you wonder and say wait what just happened. but instead gives you just enough to keep you salivating for more as the story moves on.
The action sequences in this action thriller are simple and straight forward. Jack Reacher does not use huge explosion to give the action, but instead gives good thought out fight scenes to even an old school car chase where Cruise himself does all of his own stunt driving. In the end the car chase was very enjoyable and the bus stop portion of it was one of my favorite parts in the entire movie because it just made myself and my wife laugh out loud. To go along with the action and fun story is the amount of funny wit and one liners through the film. At the start of the film the initial crime is very intense that really the one liners are needed to help lighten the intensity, yet they are able to do this in such a way that they do not lose the edge of your seat aspect for the film that you want in an action thriller.
Jack Reacher ends up being a movie that exceeded expectations, I enjoyed Cruise's performance and found it nice to see Cruise out of the Ethan Hunt mold of the boy scoutish character and instead be a character who is a little more Jason Bourne as well as an almost anti-hero that does not care to follow the rules. I enjoyed the storyline that was laid out and I was a big fan of how the pacing moved without dragging or rushing. The strength of the story also plays well when it is one in which I want to go read the Jack Reacher novels now. I am giving Jack Reacher three and a half buckets of popcorn out of five. This is definitely a movie worth renting and is one n which I plan on adding to the movie collection eventually.
-The Movie Man
