Jack Reacher: Never Go Back Review - 3 Ups & 6 Downs

2. The Emotional Beats Fall Totally Flat

One of the movie's big mistakes is in trying to inject some emotion into what is fundamentally a no-nonsense popcorn flick. Cruise's Reacher has always been rather on the quiet, one-dimensional side, and that's basically fine for what these movies are, so to try and make the audience connect with his journey emotionally is incredibly difficult...and ultimately unsuccessful.

There's a subplot in the movie which hints at some of Reacher's greater humanity beyond beating the crap out of people, but because Reacher's such a cipher in the first place, it's hard to really give much of a damn and comes off as disingenuous. That it all builds up to an unintentionally hilarious anti-climax of a reveal about Reacher's personal life only makes it feel that much more pointless.