Vanity thy name is Cruise

Rating: 4/10 (4 January 2014)

Those who do not bother to study history are doomed to repeat it. In the early 1980s the best-selling series in the US was called the Destroyer. It would ultimately spawn over 200 books in the series. A producer purchased the rights and actually launched the first movie spin off using the name of the central character, instead of simply picking a single book in the series as the title. The movie was called (not making this up) REMO WILLIAMS THE ADVENTURE BEGINS. The adventure ended suddenly. The movie was terrible. There were no more. Flash forward 30 years. The best selling series in America today is by Lee Child featuring the character Jack Reacher. Fading (and ageing) actor Tom Cruise purchases the rights and produces the film. Even though he looks nothing like the character in the book, as written, he casts himself in the title role. And names the film "Jack Reacher." The first hour of the film is painful to watch. It is all darkness and moodiness, showing none of the "inner process" that made the original Reacher so interesting. The second hour, although less painful, makes the Mission Impossible series look like The Matrix in comparison. Many words came to mind while watching this. Entertainment was not one of them. Those who do not bother to study history are doomed to repeat it.