My Rating: Loved it. If you can stand Tom Cruise (some cannot) then see it!
Initial thoughts: I was expecting a passable action movie from Tom Cruise, but this movie turned into something I thoroughly enjoyed. From the trailer it looked like an action movie with no real depth, but what the movie became was a thriller with a good bit of solid action elements.
Nutshell: A sniper takes out five people in a park in Pittsburgh. The crime scene is an evidence gold mine and they quickly get the guy. Jack Reacher, an old military police badass, sees the crime on the news and knows the guy that they caught. Fourteen years ago Reacher had caught the guy in the military for a similar shooting and heads to Pittsburgh to make sure the guy is convicted, but what he finds when he gets there turns into a twisty, tense, action filled thriller.
What I dig: I really did not expect this movie to be so GOOD. It was a solid plot; everything made sense and I didn't see any plot holes or odd fitting behavior. It was written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie, who wrote The Usual Suspects, so the guy has solid cred from me for being a good writer, despite writing some other stuff that I didn't care much for (The Valkyrie, The Tourist, and The Way of the Gun), but he delivered beautifully this time. I feel he did a great job directing, too. He managed the tension superbly and the action scenes were well shot with enough distance to see what was happening (a technique losing popularity with so many directors zooming in and bouncing the camera around to make up for poor choreography). Tom Cruise did a great job here not being the typical smiley nice guy that he so often feels he has to be. I don't recall the guy cracking a toothy grin not once, actually. He was more of a tense, taciturn character, but could deliver solid wisecrack dialogue when it was needed. Overall the movie was fantastic and way better than I expected.
What I don't dig: Some of the snappy dialogue was a little cheesy to me, but other people in the theater liked it judging by their laughs. And it was somewhat fantastical how this gruff, quiet 50 year old guy with little charisma was getting so many young women all hot and bothered, but I could understand it is fiction. Beyond that, I don't have anything negative to say. It was a tight script and a tight movie. Excellent.
Final thoughts: If you like thrillers and/or action movies then go see it. It is a solid film all the way around. So much so that I have decided I will read the book, called One Shot by Lee Child. Look for a review soon for that, too.
Any comments are appreciated!
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