The title says it all!!! NEVER GO BACK indeed! There is something seriously, seriously, SERIOUSLY wrong with Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. It looks like they released the wrong version of the movie. The latest Tom Cruise flick looks like it was hobbled together from dog shit on the cutting room floor.
We're huge Tom Cruise fans here at The Movie Bit and we really loved the last Jack Reacher movie. If you go through the world's greatest action movie star's filmography, you'd be very hard to pushed to find a bad movie. Cruise has rarely put a foot wrong in his career with his movies ranging from good to fantastic. That is until now.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back sees Investigator Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) going back into action after the arrest of Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), an Army major accused of treason. Suspecting foul play, Jack embarks on a mission to prove that the head of his old unit is innocent. After crossing paths with the law, Reacher must now go on the lam to uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy that involves the death of U.S. soldiers. And yes, that's more or less cut and paste of the movie synopsis from the iMDB. Why? Not because I'm lazy, but because I really can't be arsed coming up with my own version. Just like director Edward Zwick couldn't be fucking arsed with this.
The movie careers into one scene after the other with reckless abandon. The majority of these scenes seem to consist of Cruise walking or countless close ups on the actor. It's also during these multiple close ups, Cruise seems to be tilting his head like a dog who hears a high pitched whistle. It's really bizarre at times to be honest. Couple this with a number of shots being flipped from left to right which are blatantly obvious (watch Cruise's hair in particular) Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is contender for one of the worst movies of the year.
Cruise has worked with director Edward Zwick in the past for The Last Samurai, so whether there was some creative differences (Cruise is producer as well) or heavy studio interference, I guess we'll never know.
From a cast point of view Cruise looks like he's not bothered and Cobie Smoulders may as well have stayed at home. In fact, tragically the few scenes she does do anything in has the whole "Hollywood needs strong women" bullshit crowbarred in there.
It pains me to say it. It really does. I'm a huge Tom Cruise fan. Besides the occasional blink and you'll miss it fight scene, there is nothing really positive here. And I've tried to find something positive. This is genuinely the worst movie of his career. Die hard fans will be devastated and no doubt they'll go see it anyway, but for anybody else, leave well enough alone.
We're huge Tom Cruise fans here at The Movie Bit and we really loved the last Jack Reacher movie. If you go through the world's greatest action movie star's filmography, you'd be very hard to pushed to find a bad movie. Cruise has rarely put a foot wrong in his career with his movies ranging from good to fantastic. That is until now.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back sees Investigator Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) going back into action after the arrest of Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), an Army major accused of treason. Suspecting foul play, Jack embarks on a mission to prove that the head of his old unit is innocent. After crossing paths with the law, Reacher must now go on the lam to uncover the truth behind a major government conspiracy that involves the death of U.S. soldiers. And yes, that's more or less cut and paste of the movie synopsis from the iMDB. Why? Not because I'm lazy, but because I really can't be arsed coming up with my own version. Just like director Edward Zwick couldn't be fucking arsed with this.
The movie careers into one scene after the other with reckless abandon. The majority of these scenes seem to consist of Cruise walking or countless close ups on the actor. It's also during these multiple close ups, Cruise seems to be tilting his head like a dog who hears a high pitched whistle. It's really bizarre at times to be honest. Couple this with a number of shots being flipped from left to right which are blatantly obvious (watch Cruise's hair in particular) Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is contender for one of the worst movies of the year.
Cruise has worked with director Edward Zwick in the past for The Last Samurai, so whether there was some creative differences (Cruise is producer as well) or heavy studio interference, I guess we'll never know.
From a cast point of view Cruise looks like he's not bothered and Cobie Smoulders may as well have stayed at home. In fact, tragically the few scenes she does do anything in has the whole "Hollywood needs strong women" bullshit crowbarred in there.
It pains me to say it. It really does. I'm a huge Tom Cruise fan. Besides the occasional blink and you'll miss it fight scene, there is nothing really positive here. And I've tried to find something positive. This is genuinely the worst movie of his career. Die hard fans will be devastated and no doubt they'll go see it anyway, but for anybody else, leave well enough alone.
