Having escaped MGM’s globetrotting spy franchise in the early 1970’s, Sean Connery famously said he would never return to the role of James Bond before inevitably donning the tuxedo for one last time in 1983 in the non-canon Never Say Never Again, a title inspired by his previous reticence to pick up the old Walther PPK. Tom Cruise’s return to the role of Jack Reacher boasts what may be the most underwhelming title of any blockbuster in recent memory: Never Go Back and, given its thoroughly lacklustre nature and the middling success of its predecessor, inspires daydreams of a similar conversation in Cruise’s household. If it weren’t for the inconvenient fact that one of the series’ novels bears the same title, one could pretty easily imagine Cruise pawing over the scripts, glancing at his bookshelf, heaving with Lee Child paperbacks, breaking out in a cold sweat and hoarsely whispering “never” to himself in a moment of horrendous and lucid melancholy.
But here he is, back in the role of the famously tall, wandering hard-man Jack Reacher who, in his second screen outing, finds himself drawn into a drugs and arms dealing conspiracy which involves the framing of one of his old comrades, an army officer played by Cobie Smulders. It’s a paint-by-numbers affair that throws in a sub-plot with Reacher balancing unexpected parental duties with his obligation to punch as many faces as possible. Commendably lacking in frivolity, it watches a bit like an old Michael Winner effort, with Cruise filling in for Charles Bronson or channeling the spirit of politically incorrect forbears like Harry Callahan or Popeye Doyle. The trouble is that, despite its hardboiled sensibilities, its general lack of balls sees it coming across as half-arsed. As Cruise and Smulders blandly crash through the proceedings, you sorely wish the script contained a little more bite, or at least the conviction to present something enjoyably ruthless.
As it is, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back feels plain, lightweight and meaningless; less like a frolicking action drama and more like a compulsory piece of advice that was summarily failed to be taken.
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