Tom Cruise IS Jack Reacher

Rating: 9/10 (23 December 2012)

Jack Reacher is based on 'One Shot' which is the 9th book out of a series of 17 by Lee Child.
The film opens with 5 seemingly random people are killed by a sniper. James Barr (Joseph Sikora) is promptly arrested as all of the evidence points to him.
Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is an ex-military policeman who shows up to bury Barr to keep a promise he made based on Barrs previous crimes.
Reacher discovers that all might not be as it seems and uncovered a twisted plot to frame Barr and the motive behind it all.
Robert Duvall plays the role of Cash, a retired marine who runs a shooting range. It was good to see Cruise and Duvall on-screen together after "Days of Thunder".
The Zec (Werner Herzog) is the sinister villain who is so dark that in his past, he chewed off his own fingers. The Zec doesn't show mercy to anyone and does whatever it takes to survive.
Jack Reacher is action packed which has Tom Cruise in his element. Cruise is performing his own stunts again including an 8-minute car chase. There is a lot of humour throughout the film most memorably the barrage of laugh out loud lines Cruise delivers just below the bar fight.
My only negative point is that the Snipers identity shouldn't have been revealed in the 1st scene. It would have been better to uncover it at the same time as Reacher. Not really an issue for anyone who has read the book, but would make the viewers that haven't more involved.
This film is not going to win any Oscars but it is put together really well and doesn't disappoint. I would hope that there will be further films to follow and Reacher takes over from the M:I franchise.