Jack Reacher Review

• 30th Dec 2012

Cruise is back for the end of the year with his teen friendly thriller Jack Reacher, based on the book One Shot by Lee Child.

When a loose cannon ex-military sniper is hauled in for the murder of several people (Shown in a very confident opening sequence) – he asks for the titular character to come to his aid. Reacher shows up, but it seems that he is fully intent on helping to drive the final coffin in the nail of the young man’s future – that is until he discovers that all is not what it seems.

From here on in he picks up with the legal team assigned to the defence (namely Rosemund Pike) and the film opens up to conspiracies, red herrings and hidden motives much like you’d expect from a best-selling novel. But it is cleanly and tightly put together.

Werner Herzog makes an extended cameo appearance as the man pulling many of the strings. Those not familiar with the director (or to be more accurate, his personality) will find him quite chilling. Those who are will find him a hoot. Jai Courtney also makes an impression as the main Muscle on the side of the bad guys.

The real winner here though is director Christopher McQuarrie who has translated some of the tricks he learnt on his directorial debut Way of the Gun, including that fact that he is really the man you want when directing a car chase.

Jack Reacher could be the first instalment in a new franchise for Cruise (there are enough books for them to pick up). Lee Child could well be picking up where the likes of Grisham and Clancy left off. There is perhaps the concern in places that the film could have been a little bit more brutal in its depiction of the action on screen, but we are 12A friendly here.

Steven Hurst