"You think I'm a hero? I am not a hero. I'm a drifter with nothing to lose."

Rating: 8/10 (21 April 2013)

We've all seen these type of action-packed detective movies before; watching Jack Reacher reminded me so much of the typical action films of the 90s, such as The Fugitive or US Marshalls. Yes, there is action: Jack Reacher has quite a few cool fight scenes, some shooting, and one car chase scene (probably the most real-looking car chase I've seen since Bullit). However, the action never seems to take the front stage: it's the characters and the mystery story that does.
The story for this film starts off looking like a standard, possibly predictable, affair: a crime happened, police catch a suspect, and you start to get the feeling that things won't go all that simply. What really makes the story unique is that it throws in a totally random element: the Jack Reacher character, who's not really involved with the law at all, but is sent in to investigate and deal with bad guys in his own lawless manner. It's especially interesting that this character is basically a ghost, who can effectively disappear in a crowd and fall off the grid at a whim. The film itself seems to question, who the hell is Jack Reacher? but by the end, you get a good feeling for the answer. With a few major plot twists and good supporting characters, the film does rise a little above and beyond the average police-detective-movie fare.
This film uses some good photography, which features some interesting camera angles, but is mostly pretty plain and straightforward, like most other movies of this type. Editing is good. Acting is generally good, although I still see Tom Cruise as being just more of the same in this. Writing is good. This production uses fine-looking sets, props, and costumes. Music sounded good at times too.
Recommended for fans of the genre.
4/5 (Entertainment: Good | Story: Pretty Good | Film: Good)