JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK – RATED PG-13 – 118 min,
Starring Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh and Patrick Heusinger
From the man who has brought us countless incredible films over the past 30 years ~ including GLORY, LEGENDS OF THE FALL, DEFIANCE and PAWN SACRIFICE – Director Edward Zwick ~ comes the next installment in the JACK REACHER saga – which just goes to prove that even a man who is quite efficient at taking care of himself, can always use a little help from the ladies that cross his path…this is JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK!!!
Retired from the military and attempting to adjust to civilian life, we meet Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), who is still ridding the world of the bad guys, around each and every turn.
When he is forced to reach out to Major Turner (Cobie Smulders) in an attempt to clear his name, it seems that the Major is now under suspicion as well for a multitude of things that she too, did not do.
As our cohorts in crime try to find out who is sullying their good names, and why…it seems that something ~ or someone ~ from Reacher’s past has been in search of him, as she has a bone to pick with him this time too!
I give JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK a rating between MUST SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN and WAIT AND CATCH THIS FILM ON DVD: JACK IS DEFINITELY BACK ~ as Cruise slips right back into this action-packed role as Reacher, just as if he never left. Smulders is also on top of her game, playing the heroin of this thriller, and proving that we ladies can definitely hold our own ` if given the opportunity ~ in an action role as well. Youngster Danika Yarosh is better than average too, playing the girl that brings out a softer side of Reacher that we haven’t really seen before. So why the in-between rating? Even though I enjoyed most of aspects of this film, there were some glaring holes in the particular scenes that really bugged me along the way, but I’ll let you catch those for yourself, as to not give too much of the movie away. I also felt that as a sequel, this film isn’t bad, as giving Smulder’s character pretty much equal billing the whole way through as Cruise’s was a welcomed surprise too. But, sadly, we don’t get anything NEW FROM CRUISE that we haven’t already experienced before, either with his previous stint as REACHER, or in any of the many MISSION IMPOSSIBLE movies he’s churned out over the years. If you love action, and enjoy watching Cruise “do his thing”, then by all means head out to a theater near you this weekend to catch him once again on the big screen. Just know going in, that the only thing new and exciting this time around, is that they cast a woman who is not only willing, but able, to take out anyone that Reacher might miss, when it’s all said and done…
Kathy Kaiser
MATINEE CHAT with Kathy Kaiser 