Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a lifeless, paint by numbers action sequel that has Tom Cruise stumbling along looking bored as fuck. It is the sequel to 2012’s ‘Jack Reacher’ which was received fairly well as an above average action flick but in no way warranted a sequel, especially if this is what they had in mind. This was just a very dull, boring, limp, lifeless, uncharismatic film with a garbage predictable plot and there is absolutely no fun to be had. Cobie Smulders is the silver lining at times but even then her character was just all over the place, she’s either a strong female in command or Jack Reacher’s sidekick, pick one. The story really is a pile of shit, he ends up being accused of murder and the excuse for why Reacher gets back involved is vague and dumb, and then there’s this whole side plot with his potential daughter who he has to babysit as she tags along…. all of which is painfully boring.

And it doesn’t help that this movie is almost 2 hours long, it moves at such a slow pace focusing on boring content i honestly thought the film was finishing up when i found out there was still another 50 minutes. Now the main thing in this film is that Reacher, Turner (Smulders), and Samantha (Danika Yarosh) are constantly being hunted and on the run from mercenaries and the military. But i cant recall the last time i saw an action film with a lack of urgency worse than this. Here you have two people who are now ‘enemies of the US’ and have committed countless crimes yet every time you get to see how the military is trying to find them they’re handling the situation as if they’re dealing with some underage thieves. It’s more like a family road trip than an on the run adventure. It fails to draw you in with the lack of intensity and poorly set up and executed action sequences. And of course what is an action sequel nowadays without some massive government-wide conspiracy to take hold of the film half way through. What i’m getting at is this film is full of lazy writing, cliche dialogue, poor execution, and boring plot lines….. and with no fun to be had, it makes this a dreadful 2 hours to sit through.

Haha ALSO…… knew i was in for a rough time in the writing department when early in the film you get a sequence where people are following Reacher then he manages to sneak up on them and deliver the ‘chilling’ line; “I don’t like being followed”. Then not even 2 minutes later Reacher is following his alleged daughter only to have her sneak up on him and coincidentally deliver the same fucking line, only in a more arrogant teenager kind of way. I don’t know who wrote that line that was neither a smart, funny, nor good idea but i question their methods of obtaining their job.

Again, Tom Cruise should really just stick to the very successful Mission Impossible franchise because that’s all that is going to work for him when it comes to these action film. He looked more bored than i was which in some ways is an achievement. He was just so bland and blunt with every expression and line delivery it made it hard to have any interest in his character. Do Mission Impossible 11 if you have to, just stay away from Jack Reacher or any other boring ass generic action crap. The actress who plays his daughter, Danika Yarosh, i’ve never seen before so i have nothing to compare her role to but it came across as though she was overacting all of her lines. Yes, her character was also poorly written but there something about her acting that made me dislike her more than like her. But Combie Smulders i thought was fine, her character was most definitely the only likeable one and so when all else failed (which it did, often) i found enjoyment in watching her trying to do something with her role.

But in the end, this movie is just garbage, with boring ass plots and lifeless, dull characters, this 2 hour borefest is definitely one to just straight up skip. I can’t even see this being entertaining when catching it on free to air TV in 5 years, at least Mechanic: Resurrection would be at the very least enjoyable. If you are looking for a good Tom Cruise action film, just watch the Mission Impossible franchise, if you’ve already seen them, you’re still better off revisiting them than putting yourself through this.

2.9/10