Not good

Rating: 5/10 (26 December 2012)

Not a great movie. I had high hopes, I really liked Tom Cruise in MI: 4 Ghost Protocol. That was awesome. I guess I was hoping for more awesome Spy action. But this movie was a let down. It was almost good. But, as usual, Tom Cruise along with shoddy direction made this movie more irritating than entertaining. Tom Cruise is not a good choice for this role. Should have been somebody rough around the edges. Not pretty boy Tom Cruise playing a tough-as-nails Army investigator. I think Dwayne The Rock Johnson would have been better, or somebody like Arnold in his prime. That would be cool. But 5 foot 7 inch Tom Cruise as the ultimate tough guy? No. And the movie is really long. Something like a full two hours. Over long if you ask me. And the direction was slow paced. This felt more like a 1980's style made-for-TV movie than a block buster action flick.
Now there are two good reasons to see the movie: Alexia Fast and Rosamund Pike. One word for two women: Hot! Especially that little hot number Alexia Fast. I want to see more movies with her in them. She looks amazing. Totally hot. And I have had a crush on Rosamund ever since I first saw her in Die Another Day.
The movie could be a good action flick, but the direction is just too slow. The pace is slow. It plods along and fails to get any real momentum. And the whole plot seems a bit trivial. Some kind of hostile take over of a construction company or some stupid thing. Boring.
Also, I have a message for Tom Cruise: Tom! Stop taking your shirt off! Tom has an awkward body and he is looking his age (50 years old!). He just looks out of shape and you can tell he is trying to hold in his gut and his man boobs are sagging almost as bad as Arnold's! It's just sad and ridiculous. Keep your shirt on, Tom!
Now for a little complaint about the end. Waring! Spoiler Alert! Emerson holds Helen hostage, hiding behind her with a gun to her head and a gun pointed right at the door to the room they are in, in the dark, waiting for Reacher to enter. He is completely hidden behind Helen. Suddenly, Reacher jumps in the doorway and fires one perfect shot and kills Emerson immediately. Uh, yeah, right. I don't think so. That was lazy writing. The writers couldn't figure out a cool way for Reacher to save the girl so they copped out. That bothered me. In that scenario, Reacher would have certainly shot the girl and probably gotten shot himself.
This movie is only so-so. Not bad, not great. If you want to see an awesome spy action flick, go see Sky Fall. If you have already seen Sky Fall, go see it again. It will be more fun than this movie. Looks like Jack Reacher was "reaching" for a better film. Too bad he didn't have longer arms.