The first Jack Reacher was a fairly effective action thriller because it's the sum of many refreshingly different elements. The crime mystery was decent, characters were engaging, especially the enigmatic villain and it even produced occasional timely humor. On each its own it may not be ranked the absolute best, but combined together they made a good case for Jack Reacher.
Instead of these aspects, Reacher is now poised for semi-father figure role. Apparently action stars would go through this phase, following the footstep of Liam Neeson and the most recent Mel Gibson. This is by no means bad since it portrays him in a more humane way, it's an acceptable direction other than constantly treating him as a legend.
The main issue is it's the same formula of "protect the daughter" seen in many others movies. They would run, fight and hide, then do it all over again. There's no layer of puzzle that's slowly peeled along the way, or at least it's not on par with the case from first movie. The perpetual running can feel dreary at times even though they are passing fine locations.
There are few good spots, but they are far from being the spectacle one would expect from IMAX investment. Furthermore, aside from the few bits of father-daughter gimmick, the characters are stagnant. Tom Cruise, and the overall case for that matter, can do much more. The rest is cobbled together by fisticuffs, random shootings and minor flair in conspiracy.
While it may not be a complete downgrade, this is a step back from a healthy crime thriller of the first.
5 out of 15 found this helpful