Jack Reacher

  It's not like I cared much to see this anyways. It didn't jump out at me, not from the trailers, not from the lukewarm reception or anything. But someone rented it, and I sat down with them and watched it. It's better than I expected actually. Due in no small part... to the story. Which isn't saying much since, (spoilers) the bad guys are just real estate moguls. Yeah.

  The best part about this movie is the mystery. Five innocent people get shot by a sniper in public, and the movie does a great job of selling this to us and getting us invested in finding out the why and the who of it.
A suspect is caught early on, but one thing leads to another and the movie's title character gets involved. Make no mistake people, this is a murder mystery movie. It's not a slam bang action flick. It personally disappointed everyone I watched it with. While it didn't necessarily disappoint me, I wasn't impressed either. I've come to expect more from Tom Cruise. The entire movie sells him as this force of natural badassery to be reckoned with... but aside from a few Bourne-esque fights, Reacher himself isn't anything new.

  Of course all this isn't to say that Cruise can't play a total badass, he sells it just as well as ever. It's the story itself that is at odds with him and his character. He belongs in a Die Hard sort of movie, free to kick ass from start to finish. Yet, instead of being unleashed onto the bad guys, he's trapped up in legal bullshit and lawyer stuffs. While that may not sound like a very educated complaint, I wasn't expected a very educated movie. It's story is good, and kept me interested til the end. Yet I should point out that in one instance Rosamund Pike's cleavage steals the scene. A very important and pivotal scene no less. It speaks volumes about the movie that the plot itself is so easily upstaged by a low neckline and some well defined cleavage.

  Eventually I suppose, it's easy to get caught up in the goings-on of Jack Reacher. Twists and turns come by the minute in the latter half. I'll admit, it did get rather tense and suspenseful. However you never feeling like you're watching a great movie, just somewhat good. Passable really. Just passable. I can't say I'd like to see it again, and I'm usually a fan of Tom Cruise movies. Yet there's not much to love here. It's painfully standard. It's not the worst way to kill an hour and a half, but with all the better movies out there... it's practically a crime to invest time in Jack Reacher. You'll realize it's nothing special. I didn't regret seeing it, and it was alright, it certainly isn't outright bad. It falls into that sort of purgatory that movies fall into when they're not good enough to recommend and not bad enough to hate. So, it's up to you I suppose. Cruise fans might like him here. I suggest re-watching Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. Much better Tom Cruise vehicle.