I guess the first thing I should talk about is Tom Cruise. I myself have never been opposed to the man, in fact I find him to be an excellent actor. I know it's going back a few years, but his turn in Rain Man was really good and very emotionally driven. In many of his film roles since, I've found him to be quite adventurous in the roles that he picks. So in this film, I went in expecting a usual Tom Cruise experience and I wasn't disappointed.
Before I go on to the other cast members, I guess I should talk a little about the plot. The film opens to a sniper opening fire on a street full of civilians in Pittsburgh, which I recognised from the "amazing" Taylor Lautner action flick Abduction, which is great if you want a snooze. I found this scene to be quite emotionally jarring, as you see the people running from the gunfire to no avail. The gunman then gets caught and instead of confessing his crime he asks the DA and leading detective to get Jack Reacher, who we find out is a ghost who doesn't want to be found (but at the same time comes out of hiding as this happens). As a result of the negligence of the DA, played by the masterful Richard Jenkins, the gunman ends up in a coma. Now it's up to Jack Reacher to seemingly solve the crime and keep the gunman of death row.
Now on to the casting. As I said, Tom Cruise is a great actor and when he is on screen he can do no wrong in my eyes, but I remember prior to this movie coming out, fans were up in arms about this casting. Now it's no secret that Tom Cruise is the tallest guy in Hollywood, but he isn't the shortest (that honour goes to Danny DeVito) and apparently the character is 6'7". But by using movie magic, you wouldn't be able to tell otherwise. Techniques such as not having anyone else in the frame with your actor work, as well as shooting from a low angle or having him sit down also work as well. There is only one scene where he stands in the middle of a group of people, in which the apple box would have been used.
The rest of the cast is also superb. Richard Jenkins as the DA was an excellent choice. The only other movie I have seen with him in was the Cabin in the Woods, which we all know was a horror masterpiece. Rosamund Pike, who plays the defence attorney of the gunman and Richard Jenkins' daughter, was spectacular. She was gracefully subtle, but I do find that she always has a look of surprise on her face.
David Oyelowo was captivating as the detective who is trying to chase down Reacher, as is Aussie Jai Courtney, who plays the sniper trying to get rid of Reacher for the bad guys. A couple of cameos by Robert Duvall and Werner Herzog were also surprising.
The action set pieces in this film are good, but not the best for a film of this genre. The one piece that I did like was a car chase through the streets of Pittsburgh. I've always had the utmost respect for stunt drivers and I know how difficult their job can be at times. This one had a lot of crashes because apparently Reacher is the best driver in the world.
The cinematography in this film was stunning and there was an angle in the aforementioned chase sequence where a camera was on the hood of the car shooting the reaction of the driver as well as the vehicles behind. There was some issues with the sound mix that I picked up on, but nothing to noticeable. I also found the second act to drag on just a bit too long.
Verdict: The action set pieces are amazing and it had an intriguing story. Visually it was amazing and it had some good casting choices.
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