Movie review:Cruise’s Jack Reacher snipered down
When a man almost bares “superhuman abilities”, and I use the term loosely, you rarely think that Tom Cruise would be cast as the “hero”.
And when a film is created to emanate the much-loved Mission Impossible or James Bond series of films, your expectations are set quite high.
However, with a dismal box office turnover, the film failed to impress unlike the novel series by Lee Child, which the film is based upon.
In the film, Jack Reacher, a man drives a van into a parking garage after dropping a quarter into the meter, readies a sniper rifle and randomly kills five people.
The police soon arrive at the scene of the murder, and they discover a shell casing as well as the coin used to pay for parking.
A fingerprint taken from the coin points to James Barr, a former US Army sniper.
When the police raid his house, they find the van, equipment for making bullets, the rifle in question and Barr fast asleep in his bed.
During an interrogation, Barr is offered a choice between life in prison in exchange for a full confession or guaranteed death row.
Barr takes a notepad, and writes: “Get Jack Reacher”.
Reacher is a drifter and former US Army officer who agrees to investigate the crime.
The film then explodes into conspiracies and set-ups, and Reacher has to outwit his opponents.
Reacher is perfect, doesn’t put a foot out of place and is merciless – which simply creates an inability to connect with the character. You don’t know much about him, yet he is crafty, able to “kill 12 men with his hands tied behind his back”, and all the girls purr after him.
However, this still didn’t make the character very accessible to the audience.
If there is a sequel, I’d suggest another main character, and a reinvention of the formula.
The film wasn’t half unwatchable and still makes for pleasant viewing.
Rating: 3/5.
