I Like Shallow Action Movies

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2013)

When this film crept on to the scene the first question that overtly popped in my brain was, 'What in the heck is a Jack Reacher?' By the time Tom Cruise finished knocking a few (knuckle) heads off some evil shoulders I knew the answeror did I? Hmmmm, perplexing. 'Jack Reacher', is a whole new character to me. I have not read any of the books in what I understand to be a sizable series - but thanks to the excellent job by cast and crew – I at least know I enjoyed myself. This movie has all the elements of what I look for in quality movies – guns, explosions, chase scenes, bad guys getting their butts kicked, slim plot and a surprisingly awesome addition of late American Muscle tearing up the pavement (a sad side not - how could you ruin a perfectly good SS 396?) Did I mention this is also your classic struggle between good and evil (wait – is evil really evil?) Hmmmm, baffling. As always, I am always impressed by the awesome acting talents of Mr. Tom Cruise - if that is really your name? Hmmmm, puzzling. I really liked the story – it wasn't really in your face – well it was – but not as much as some of the other action-hero crap on movie screens lately. In action movies it is vital to have very shallow characters, an ingredient fully embraced in this movie. I mean they did such a good job keeping roles superficial, I was hoping Jack would take out some of the good guys when he was done with the bad guys. This brings up another enjoyable feature which was momentum. Oh – did you want time to take a breather? You do? You best not watch this movie then – from the first nut cracking kick to the last payback decapitation, the tempo was intense. Was this the best movie? For most – no. Was this worth my time – yes. It was good escapism and fun. I liked itor did I? Hmmmm, bewildering.