Let me waste my money for you! Let me just state for the record that I’m a giant Tom Cruise supporter. Come on, who isn’t ‘really’ a Cruise fan? The guy doesn’t know how to make a bad movie, right? Well, that ‘was’ the case until this unnecessary sequel to the moderate hit came to theaters over this past weekend.
How can this be?
Well, it’s a combination of things. The biggest culprit is the script. In this go around, we see our hero, Reacher, (who gets by hitchhiking and staying at Motel 6’s) investigate the imprisonment of Army Major Turner (played by Cobie Smulders) who was in charge of his old unit. You see, Reacher developed a rapport with Turner as she helped him solve cases around the country. It isn’t until he arrives to actually meet Turner (face to face) that he comes to find out that she has been imprisoned for espionage. Suspecting foul play, Reacher rescues Turner from a prison (in a completely over-the-top scene) and they both become wanted fugitives trying to exonerate themselves.
Perhaps the most annoying aspect of this story is the subplot that Reacher may be a father. He is told by an attorney that he needs to take a paternity test as someone is claiming that he is the biological father of a 14 year old girl. He adamantly denies the claim yet we later see him entertain the possibility. In knowing his involvement, the bad guys (gov’t contractors) go after his supposed daughter, Samantha Dayton (acted horribly by Danika Yarosh). Eventually, Reacher and Turner are able to find her and together they all go on the run.
Then we are given a family drama for about 25 minutes where Reacher and Turner dance around the idea of a real relationship together while babysitting Samantha. There’s even a moment when Reacher tries to explain to Turner that he has to go out and kick a$$ alone while she stays and watches Samantha. Turner has a knee jerk reaction and goes on a tirade about how hard women have it in the field, etc. and essentially accuses Reacher of being sexist when, in fact, he was being very practical about the whole situation (he can’t really relate to Samantha like Turner can).
Once the story decided to get going again, I actually stopped checking my watch. The action revs up during a nightly city parade in Louisiana and ends in a short-lived brawl that was actually pretty well directed. I should mention that the main villain is a lot like the assassins in the “Bourne” films. He gets ‘activated’ to do anything this shady company requests of him and he sees Reacher as competition for who could be more bada$$. Because whynot?
Outside of the conventional, very predictable storyline and subpar acting (that includes you, Mr. Cruise); I cannot help but wonder why the film was made at all. I know the obvious answer – money. I imagine that this sequel will do a lot worse. Furthermore, I can’t believe that the director of this sequel (Edward Zwick) is the same guy that worked with Cruise in “The Last Samurai” and did the incredible film “Glory” back in 1989.
Note: The first “Jack Reacher” was written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie.
Note: The sequel (as well as the original) we both based on the books by Lee Child.
Everything ends with a bow on it so to speak (for the good guys). Unfortunately, Reacher doesn’t ‘seal the deal’ with Turner and finds out that **SPOILER** Don’t Read Rest of This Paragraph** Samantha isn’t really his daughter. We wouldn’t want the next sequel to tie Reacher down with Daddy duties would we? I remain hopeful that this remains the last in the ‘Reacher’ movies.
In Summary
There are many other things to watch right now – “Black Mirror” (new season on Netflix), “Mascots” (new mockumentary on Netflix), and really any horror film (it’s that time of year!).
Grade: C-
I’m sure Tom Cruise will be back to making good movies in no time. He has another “Mission Impossible” movie in the works and the “Mummy” movie hitting theaters sometime next year.
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