Susan Granger’s review of “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” (Paramount Pictures/Skydance)
Full Disclosure: My son, Don Granger, produced this film.
When British novelist Lee Child’s stoic hero, ex-Military Police Major Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise), learns that Army Maj. Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who heads his old investigative unit, has been arrested for espionage, causing the death of two US soldiers in Afghanistan, he knows she’s innocent.
But trying to prove that is another matter. When he appeals to a Judge Advocate in Washington D.C., Reacher discovers a paternity claim against him, revealing that he may have a delinquent teenage daughter, Samantha (Danika Yarosh).
Basically a lone wolf, a laconic, hitchhiking vigilante who lives off-the-grid, Reacher must work with Susan Turner, whom he breaks out of a high-tech military prison, and rebellious Samantha to unravel a nefarious government conspiracy, involving a sneering contractor (Patrick Heusinger) and smarmy General Harkness (Robert Knepper).
Reacher’s search for a mysterious munitions supplier called Parasource takes them to New Orleans, where there’s a climactic rooftop chase, high above a Halloween parade in the French Quarter.
Adrenaline-propelled Cruise is renowned for doing his own stunts – and he doesn’t disappoint, particularly when he uses a salt shaker to punch through a car window.
Adapted by Richard Wenk, Marshall Herskovitz and director Edward Zwick from the 18th of Child’s “Jack Reacher” books, this crime thriller introduces two kick-ass women. Formidable Maj. Susan Turner proves she can fight in fierce, hand-to-hand combat alongside muscular Reacher, while resourceful Samantha turns out to be a quick learner.
Like Cruise, sinewy Cobie Smulders did her own stunts, catapulting her alongside Cruise’s previous cohorts Rebecca Ferguson (“Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation”) and Emily Blunt (“Edge of Tomorrow”).
FYI: In the first “Jack Reacher” (2012), author Lee Child was a police officer; this time, he’s a TSA agent, scanning Reacher’s ID. “A theme is developing,” he notes. “I’m always in uniform, and I’m always somewhat suspicious of what’s going on with Cruise.”
On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is a gritty, suspenseful 7, filled with intense action.
