13 January 2013
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins and David Oyelowo
What It’s About: A military police detective sets his sights on an accused trained military sniper who shot and killed five civilians.
Rated PG-13 (for violence, language and some drug material)
Runtime: 130 minutes
By Desmond Ho, Staff Writer
When I first saw a trailer for Jack Reacher, I thought it looked like a generic action thriller. Over time, I became more interested in it because I thought it looked like a cool action thriller. The actual film turned out to be somewhere in the middle; it was pretty entertaining, but not much more than that.
Based on the book One Shot by Lee Childs, the story centers on Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), a drifting military veteran trying to solve the seemingly random murder of five unrelated people in one area. The alleged perpetrator is James Barr (Joseph Sikora), an ex-Army soldier. Unfortunately for Barr, all evidence at the scene and his house point to him. Before he is beaten into a coma while being transported, he tells the people interrogating him to “Get Jack Reacher.” Jack Reacher sees this on the news and goes to Barr’s attorney, Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike), telling her that he’s there to ensure that Barr was guilty before his trial. In doing so, he gets much more than what he bargained for.
I don’t know if Tom Cruise’s portrayal of the titular character is true to the books, but he shines as the wisecracking vigilante. Rosamund Pike is also likable as the daughter of the District Attorney (played by Richard Jenkins), who is determined to save Barr from death row. Werner Herzog plays The Zec (“the prisoner”), an ex-prisoner who chewed off his own fingers to stay alive. The character had the potential to be really terrifying but didn’t get much screen time, which is a waste of said potential. Rounding out the main cast are Charlie (Jai Cooper), a man working with The Zec, and Emerson (David Oyelowo), a man working with the District Attorney. Robert Duvall is also in the film in a minor role as Cash, an old gun store owner who assists Reacher in his investigation.
There are some minor issues I had regarding plot complications. There are a few that could have been easily avoided, though going into detail would verge on spoiler-territory. While they aren’t necessarily ridiculous, Reacher makes many assumptions throughout the film that come off as contrived. There is also the general feeling of blandness to the movie; it’s not very original in any sense and, as a whole, doesn’t do anything particularly interesting.
That’s not to say it’s a bad movie. It is highly entertaining at times, especially during a tense car chase scene (which admittedly doesn’t sound exciting at all). However, in context, you’re really pulling for Reacher to get the bad guys, and the lack of music highlights the atmosphere of the sounds of speeding cars. Fight scenes and shootouts are decently shot as well, with little shaky-cam used.
Jack Reacher isn’t an action-packed explosion-fest, but rather a plot-driven mystery thriller. It’s not exactly very original (or even interesting), but there is entertainment to be had.
6/10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK7y8Ou0VvM
Courtesy of cdn1.screenrant.com