Tom Cruise might not be "Dirty Harry", but his attempt wasn't that bad: 6.5 out of 10

Rating: Null/10 (13 January 2013)

The trailer of JACK REACHER, the new Tom Cruise production starring (of course) Tom Cruise, played in pretty much every darn screening during the past few months. This trailer left no doubt that this was a genre movie, that was going to be out there just to satisfy its target audience; action and cars fans, and of course those Cruise admirers. However there was an element that indicated that it could be something much more interesting: the participation of the legendary Werner Herzog as the main antagonist of the story. It's quite strange for Herzog to act (although not long ago he did it for the film MISTER LONELY), and I don't think there's someone who imagined that someday he would work alongside Cruise on a 100 million dollar movie.
At the same time it's not hard to imagine Herzog, with his distinct voice, as a villain, and the general idea (I'm saying this as a huge Herzog fan) seemed the only remarkable thing of the movie. I think Christopher McQuarrie (director and writer – it was based on the novel "One Shot" by Lee Child) didn't give Herzog enough screen time. The development and conclusion to his character are quite disappointing (pretty much nothing happens with him), even with the promising beginning and with the fact that, indeed, the German filmmaker looks sensational in his antagonistic role.
This character is only known as "the Zec" ("the prisoner") and his mythology is similar to some other fictional crime bosses. The character only known as "the Greek" from THE WIRE, for instance, is also a mysterious European that operates in the US – an almost mythical figure that with a low profile controls part of the criminal world. It's a cool mythology but ultimately "the Zec" is just another extra in Cruise's spectacle. So let's forget about Herzog to focus in what JACK REACHER really offers.
The movie opens with the sequence of a sniper doing a killing job. At one point we get to see the sniper's point of view and how each one of his victims (five in total) gets killed. If an opening like this one doesn't makes you think in the Don Siegel and Clint Eastwood classic DIRTY HARRY, well, is simply because you haven't seen that 1971 picture! In general terms, JACK REACHER feels like a descendant of "Harry" – and it's pretty obvious that it will be a franchise too.
Reacher ain't officially a detective (he served in the military), however he acts like one; therefore the movie moves just like any other that involves someone trying to solve a murder mystery. The protagonists, Reacher and the lawyer Helen Rodin (played by Rosamound Pike), will try to complete the puzzle and find the truth about the sniper and the five victims. There's nothing quite innovative and its few "surprises" remain inoffensive; but it's enjoyable, especially if you like classic detective moments.
The work of Tom Cruise also makes me think in DIRTY HARRY. No, I'm not comparing Cruise with Eastwood, is just that Reacher's attitude is somewhat similar to Harry Callahan's. However, you don't buy to the 50-year-old Cruise the idea that he's a dirty ol' bastard who couldn't care less for the law and literally smashes the heads of his rivals. When JACK REACHER tries to deliver the absurdist humor (that we could see in the trailer too), Cruise doesn't have any trouble to accomplish the mission; I'm not saying the result is always effective, as sometimes is just absurd, but for that kind of material, Cruise is all right. Robert Duvall is, by the way, pretty cool here.
Like I said, JACK REACHER has elements from those action movies from the seventies; and yes, it has a car chase too. Quentin Tarantino made it clear with DEATH PROOF that if you want to pay homage to the classics (like VANISHING POINT or DIRTY MARRY CRAZY LARRY) you better forget the CGI. It seems McQuarrie understood that; and Cruise didn't require any stunt double and drove the chase. This is certainly remarkable, but nevertheless the car chase with Zoe Bell and Kurt Russell from DEATH PROOF is still, and by far, the best, most exciting and impressive car chase that Hollywood has given us in the last ten years. So just like its car chase, the new Tom Cruise production is something the fans of action and mystery movies will appreciate but will soon forget.
*Watched it on 09 January, 2013