An old school detective thriller

Rating: 7/10 (7 January 2013)

Jack Reacher is not hero, or so he would have you believe. He's a loner and he's old school. He travels from town to town, presumably via bus as he has no passport, nor does he have a phone or any other form of communication. He's a bit like Chuck Norris really, you don't find him he finds you, he can beat five guys up and barely break a sweat and he has a very strong sense of right and wrong.
Now the trailer for Jack Reacher does slightly deceive the audience into thinking this is an action film, it does have action but it's actually more like an old school detective thriller, playing out at times quite slowly. As I say, Reacher does have action, just not a whole lot. This is fine though as the time in between the action allows for both the story and characters to breathe. The story is essentially quite simple, a sniper takes out five seemingly random victims with seemingly no motive or cause. Of course our hero soon gets involved and things start to unravel.
Tom Cruise is very good as Jack Reacher, the whoop de doo caused by fans of the books over Cruise's lack of height never plays into it. He fully takes on the role in every department, playing a smart, charismatic, brave and even at times very funny Jack Reacher. The main villain The Zec, played brilliantly by Werner Herzog, is a very imposing character and sticks in the mind, which is quite something as he is only really given two scenes to make his mark. Jai Courtney, as secondary villain Charlie, creates a menacing character also, using his physical presence to intimidate those around him.
Jack Reacher is a film and a character that stays with you long after you've watched the film. I saw it last Tuesday and there are moments I still think of now, the extremely loud car chase, the take down of five thugs, the initial sniper attack and the moving part where you we are told just how innocent the victims were.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching this film, I would quite happily watch it again and I would definitely recommend it. There are sixteen other novels ready for the sequel treatment, I just hope we don't have to wait too long to see the next instalment.