Tom Cruise never really disappoints when it comes to action

Rating: 8/10 (8 August 2013)

After a shooting where five people are killed by an ex-Army sniper, former Army investigator Jack Reacher (played by Tom Cruise) appears in order to take justice in his hands. However, as he and the defense attorney (Rosamund Pike) investigates to be certain of the sniper's guilt, things are not as clear-cut as they seen...
An action thriller rarely employs originality, and often comes with an abusive number of absurdities. Yet, it usually ends up satisfying our common taste for action-packed cinematic features, which is why the genre is still as strong as ever. 'Jack Reacher' is just like that; not original, a little more on the absurd/unrealistic side, but those are easy to overlook thanks to being very fun to watch.
Despite all his crazy, fanatical, Scientologist persona in real life, Tom Cruise has made a career through sheer charisma and it shows. He is fun to watch in action, even if he is not the best actor around (and he is far from it), and his stunts are always somewhat believable. He lends much charisma to his character, and that is what makes this film work above its flaws.
Werner Herzog is pretty good as a villain, even if he gets little screen time: he looks truly menacing, and you can't shake the feeling that he is going to turn into a cold-blooded maniac any moment. However, that is hardly acting: Herzog is like that, so he is pretty much playing himself. Robert Duvall plays nicely his supporting role (I didn't even know he would be in the film), and most of the other actors are quite solid.
On the other hand, I found Rosamund Pike to be quite bad in here. Her facial expressions are almost comical when they need to be serious, and she barely manages to make her character work most of the time. She is somewhat attractive at times, though, which makes her somewhat acceptable.
The action is quite good, if at times rushed, and the plot tries to be smarter than the average actioners through a series of twists/mysteries that feel forced at times. Overall, however, it does not disappoint in what it sets off to do.
'Jack Reacher' is based on a book series, so it could end up as a new franchise. I don't really think it could work well; Cruise will probably end up replaced, and without him this is likely to fall in the same abyss that Jack Ryan did.