Film Review: JACK REACHER (2012)

Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Writers: Christopher McQuarrie (screenplay), Lee Child (based on the book “One Shot” by)
Running time: 125 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Action/Crime/Thriller
UK Release date: 26^th December 2012

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 25^th August 2013.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE UNINTENTIONAL SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I was aware that this one got a bit of a rough time from the critics on release but I decided I would give it a look anyway. It’s not that I’m a fan of the ‘Jack Reacher’ novels, I’ve never read one and anyhow, as I recall, that was a major problem for some of the critics; they were fans of the novels. As it turned out, it was neither as good nor as bad as I was expecting. Here’s a very brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

When a random shooting takes place in a public area and five people are killed, the district attorney, Rodin (Richard Jenkins) and the chief investigator, Emerson (David Oyelowo), want quick justice. A man is arrested, Barr (Joseph Sikora), and there is seemingly overwhelming evidence against him. When asked to write out a confession, he writes just three words; “Get Jack Reacher”. The police try to track him down but he seemingly doesn’t exist. So imagine there surprise when Reacher (Tom Cruise) walks in and announces himself. It turns out he knows Barr from his days working for the Military Police but makes it clear he is not there to save him. Nonetheless, he ends up investigating the incident alongside Barr’s lawyer, Helen Rodin (Rosamund Pike). It soon transpires that Barr had been set up; but by whom and to what end?

The film starts off very stylish, looking every bit the classic cop movies of the 70’s and 80’s. Sadly it does not keep this early promise and soon slips into the usual cliché‘s that have haunted many more recent cop films. I found it very hard to connect with any of the characters, although all the performances were very good. I did particularly like Werner Herzog as The Zec, a particularly shady character; other than that it was pretty mundane. I found it a bit bloated and over-long although it did pick up towards the end.

SteelMonster’s verdict: RECOMMENDED (Just)

My score: 5.8/10.

IMDb Score: 7.0/10 (based on 115,573 votes when this review was written).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790724/

MetaScore: 50/100: (Based on 35 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 61/100 (based on 168 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 68/100 (based on 99,058 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/jack_reacher/

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LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.jackreachermovie.com/
Trailer: