Reacher is clunky Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (M)

118 mins I was a supporter of the first Jack Reacher film, having never developed a literary attachment to the eponymous hero and thus happy to see him misinterpreted (apparently) by the diminutive Tom Cruise. But this sequel, adapted from another of Lee Child’s bestselling books, has the misfortune to bear a title which may provide its epitaph. Reacher does come back, on a similar mission to last time: that is, to clear someone’s name and run around dodging those who would rather see him hand-cuffed and out of their ill-intentioned way.

The script is cliched and clunky, and of course this being the second movie of the franchise, we’re deprived of a gripping opening and slow introduction to our hero – instead, we’re straight into a story which disappointingly reads more like an over-explanatory airport novel than a well-executed Bourne film.

Po-faced assassins walk the wrong way through Mardi Gras parades. Tom cruises. Cobie Smulders, the heroine, smoulders. (Smulders does as well as she can as a Cruise off-sider/loveinterest.) There is even a sub-plot involving a possible daughter, in an attempt to give Reacher some emotional depth.

But there’s also a boring flashback and the violence is really loud. If you want more from your favourite book series, you’d be better off re-watching the first Reacher film. – Sarah Watt