Two days out from its theatrical release, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is the one to watch going into this weekend’s box office, combining slick action with arguably one of the most bankable stars in all of Hollywood in Tom Cruise. Early reviews are all over the shop, though, with our own Matt Donato raising questions as to whether the sequel was really necessary. But more on that later.
Acting as one of, if not the final media dumps prior to release, we now have a gallery of high-res screenshots for Never Go Back to pour over, teasing shootouts, goons and some old fashioned double-crossing. Tom Cruise’s one-man-army is naturally the main takeaway here, but you’ll also find Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders) in action. Turner is instrumental to the plot of Ed Zwick’s action sequel, too, after she’s imprisoned for a crime she didn’t commit. Upon arriving at his former military base in Virginia, Reacher busts Smulders’ sidekick/love interest out of prison, as the pair go on the run in an attempt to clear their names.
Lifting inspiration from Lee Child’s novel of the same name, Never Go Back hasn’t hit the ground running in the way Paramount would have hoped. Box office figures will naturally dictate whether Tom Cruise and Co. reunite for a third movie, but at least based on Donato’s verdict, don’t hold your breath:
“Compared to Christopher McQuarrie’s unexpected franchise kickstarter, Edward Zwick finds himself with a nasty case of non-essential sequelitus. Tom Cruise is as muscly and bland as heroes come, restrained by the burden of two dead-weight companion pawns.”
You can decide for yourself when Jack Reacher: Never Go Back pummels its way into theaters on October 21.
