Jack Reacher

In terms of pure pop entertainment value, you'll be hard-pressed to find a more smartly constructed, beautifully shot, pulse-pounding movie this holiday season.

This is Cruise's show. And he nails it. The patented smile is gone, replaced by a glower that makes Jack Reacher a dark and dazzling ride into a new kind of hell.

Beat by beat, Jack Reacher is just like Child's paperbacks in the best possible way: it's fast, fun, and smarter than it looks.

The whole movie is like an NRA wet dream, with Robert Duvall as a crusty gun-range owner who pitches in to shoot bad guys. Jack Reacher already feels as if it belongs to another era.

Reacher is so good at everything he does, and Cruise plays him in such a robotic manner, that the movie becomes a bit of a bore: The hero is practically omnipotent.

Apart from the car chase, the only real fun in Jack Reacher comes from Mr. Herzog and Robert Duvall, called in near the end for some marvelously gratuitous scenery chewing as a gruff former Marine. They enliven the movie's atmosphere of weary brutality for a few moments, but they also call attention to the dullness of their dramatic surroundings.

Jack Reacher, which Christopher McQuarrie directed from his adaptation of a Lee Child crime novel, is not just another dumb thriller. It's almost peerlessly self-important, weirdly incoherent and eerily smarmy. It's also mysteriously inept, considering that Tom Cruise plays the title role.

I don't know why this movie didn't get a higher score. I absolutely loved it. I didn't see it till it was on dvd. And I had no interest in watching it but I sat down and watched a scene that totally hooked me. The acting in this is great. Tom Cruise delivers like usual. Their is a lot of great action sequences. But also a great story. If you are thinking about watching it. I would totally recommend it. And if it turns out you liked it. You can get excited for the sequel.

Has a step above the stock action thriller due to Cruise and McQ, but Cruise struggles to fully come across as the no nonsense tough guy.

First of all, even though I didn't read the book, I could somewhat understand why the main character and the movie's overall idea infuriated book enthusiasts. I would agree if I had loved reading a special book and had high hopes for the film adaptation. You might experience the same sensation if you view a trailer expecting a movie with exploding action and nonstop amusement, but all you get is a slow-moving detective and action thriller.

[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]

This has to be the one of the most generic, by the book, blatantly shallow action films ever made.