(semi-spoiler free)

This weekend Jack Reacher: Never Go Back hit theaters like Tom Cruise hitting the treadmill. It’s been four years since the last (and first) Jack Reacher film came out and like many of you I was surprised we’d even be getting a Jack Reacher sequel, but I’m glad we did. Tom Cruise plays Jack Reacher very well, he’s cool, he kicks ass, and he’s interesting to follow. Love him or hate him Tom Cruise makes a solid movie. I’ve never read the Jack Reacher novels but I hear Tom Cruise is somewhat different from what the book fans pictured, but who cares about books, not me, not you, and definitely not Jack Reacher, unless it has to do with aliens or volcanos or sea voyages (not legally accurate). Check out one of the trailers below…

The first Jack Reacher was a surprising action thriller that introduced us to the legendary if not mythical character that is Jack Reacher. It wasn’t an amazing film but it got the job done. Just like Jack Reacher. In Never Go Back, Reacher sets out to free Major Turner, played Cobie Smulders AKA Robin Scherbatsky, she gets herself framed and thrown into some military prison and Jack Reacher has to clear her name and find the bad guys who are conspiring against Scherbatsky, Reacher, and the US government. A lot of the movie comes down to the dynamic between Cobie and Tom and I think they work well together on screen. There’s also a third character who’s a big part of their group but I’m not sure if disclosing that would be a spoiler or not because it wasn’t really given away in the trailers (at least I don’t think so) so I’ll leave it out, but I will say that I enjoy seeing the trio on screen together.

Villain wise, the movie falls just a little flat. Throughout most of the movie Reacher and company are tailed by a nameless assassin dude who has several close confrontations and threatening phone calls with Reacher but he ends up being an average nameless assassin dude antagonist. Although some of his fights are pretty good, and he’s better than Jai Courtney thats for sure. Fucking Jai. Damn you Jai (Die Hard 5 reference)! Then there’s Robert Knepper also known as Prison Break’s “T-Bag” who’s sort of the head villain. My main complaint is that we didn’t get to see more of him. He’s a solid actor who can give weird and creepy performances so its kind of a disappointment he didn’t have a little more time to shine.

Overall its an enjoyable movie and its better than most sequels. The way the story plays out feels a little weird when it comes to pacing but the action is actually pretty awesome, which shouldn’t surprise anyone who’s seen the first Jack Reacher. Much like the first Jack Reacher I don’t think it will really amaze anyone but the character is extremely fun to follow and its always entertaining watching a good ass kicking which Tom and Cobie dish out in plentiful fashion. So if you’re heading to the theaters this weekend or the next, go see Jack Reacher: Never Go Back you’ll probably be surprised, or you’ve seen the first Jack Reacher and you know what’s up.

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back gets… 3.5/5 Stars

If you’ve seen Jack Reacher or Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, let us know what you think, and if you are Tom Cruise we’re sorry about the aliens & volcanos & boats comment, and thanks for reading.

Photo Credit: Snagged from screenrant.com

Jack Reacher