“I Mean to Beat You to Death and Drink Your Blood From a Boot.” Jack Reacher is an adaptation of the book One Shot by Lee Child and stars Tom Cruise in the title role. Since there are over a dozen Jack Reacher novels in publication, it can be assumed that this film is aiming to be the first film of a possible new franchise for Cruise. Jack Reacher is an ex-military cop, who is now a drifter/freelance investigator. He is called on by a defense attorney (Rosamund Pike) to investigate a mass shooting, the suspect of which Reacher was previously acquainted with. Through the course of his investigations, Reacher comes to realize that the shooting may be part of a larger conspiracy. The plot of the film is pretty much a “by-the-book” thriller and I was able to guess many of the twists before they happened. However, I still have to say that I found the film to be enjoyable. Despite any issues one may have about Tom Cruise's personal life, I still find him to be an enjoyable screen presence. He even gets to throw off a few one-liners, one of the more memorable of which I had to quote above. There is also a scene stealing performance by none other than Werner Herzog as the film's main antagonist, known only as The Zec. Sadly, Herzog is only in about 3-4 scenes, with the bulk of the villain work being performed by The Zec's main henchman (played by Jai Courtney). Overall, I have to say that Jack Reacher was pretty decent action/thriller and I wouldn't mind it if it was indeed turned into a new franchise for Cruise.8 | LIKED IT
