Jack Reacher; a gritty, hard-core protagonist

Rating: 7/10 (11 November 2017)

Jack Reacher stars Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher and is directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who has written Edge of Tomorrow as well as the highly acclaimed The Usual Suspects. The film follows a shooting in which Jack Reacher must discover the real culprit of the crime. The film begins with your usual clichè young, handsome shooter who wears dark sunglasses. This clichè approach to gangsters and mafia and shooters are old and frankly worn. That being said, this is the only overly cliché film which doesn't particularly have much impact on the overall film apart from the antagonist who's a German, ate off his fingers and has scars all over his face and body. The action and uncovering of information that Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike (who plays Helen) undertake is incredibly interesting but is contrasted with high-paced action and battle scenes, with a spectacular finalé battle, which is done extremely well. But most importantly is the resolve Reacher holds. It is what we want from all our action heroes: just shoot the bad guy and quit with the small talk finally.
The film has a great atmosphere (particularly in this final battle scene) which creates a dark and gritty feel. The film itself, is too long, though, with the film seeming to drag through some sections, with Tom Cruise being the only one to give an above average performance, whereas others overact or just don't give a great performance.