In a bid to add emotional depth to Tom Cruise’s dour Jack Reacher, a domestic conceit is set-up for the sequel in which Reacher and an army major (Cobie Smulders) must protect a moody teenager (Danika Yarosh) who is being targeted by hoods for allegedly being Jack’s daughter. For Reacher – an ex-military tough guy who lives in the shadows, jumping out occasionally to duff up the bad guys – the extra responsibility really cramps his style, and many of the sequel’s best moments show him having to develop the art of compromise. The story – a US military conspiracy uncovering the sale of weapons to insurgents during the war in Afghanistan – rips along like a Bourne film, particularly in its cat-and-mouse premise which sees corrupt military officers sending assassins (mostly Patrick Heusinger in Terminator mode) to hunt out Reacher and the Major as they try to decipher the truth and clear their names. It’s nothing too out of the ordinary, but it is more fun than the first film. The lukewarm reception to the Jack Reacher cinematic franchise may ultimately see Cruise abandon the series altogether in favour of his highly lucrative and excellent Mission: Impossible films, another vanity project which at least seems to appeal more to both the critics and the public.
- Country: United States
- Action Director: Wolfgang Stegemann
- Directed by: Edward Zwick
- Starring: Aldis Hodge, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Holt McCallany, Patrick Heusinger, Tom Cruise
- Produced by: Christopher McQuarrie, Don Granger, Tom Cruise
- Written by: Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz, Richard Wenk
- Studio: Skydance Media, TC Productions