BEFORE: I'm taking a chance with this one - obviously Tom Cruise carries over and I think there's a killer in here somewhere, but I don't want to read too much about the plot. As a result I'm not sure if this totally fits in with my theme. Plus, it's on the PPV, so I'm not sure if it will be worth the $4.99, which is a tough call to make when I have so many other films already standing by on DVD.
THE PLOT: A homicide investigator digs deeper into a case involving a trained military sniper who shot five random victims.
AFTER: Well, I think I made the right call, with so many connections to "Collateral", as follows: 1) Tom Cruise plays a total bad-ass, 2) an assassin/hit-man takes out (or intends to take out) five targets, 3) there's lots of action, especially car chases + stunts, and 4) REDACTED, since this similarity is a key part of both films' plots.
Jack Reacher is a great, well-rounded character. He's ex-military, sort of a cop who investigated rogue soldiers, who quit the military and now drifts around the country, doling out justice. He can see things in a crime scene that other investigators miss, he's got a skill set that rivals James Bond, and he just sort of turns up when he's needed, and vanishes when he's done.
And more than anything else, he's smart. Smart and observant, so add in a little Sherlock Holmes to that James Bond thing. Weapons, martial arts, keen insights into the criminal mind - am I missing anything? I hope this is the start of a "Die Hard"-like franchise, cause fans of action movies will probably end up crushing (even male-crushing) on Jack Reacher.
If I've got any complaint tonight, it would only be that the character is a little TOO perfect - his martial arts style always beats the other guy's, his bullets strike true when the bad guys shoot ten times as many bullets and miss every time. But this is really a convention of most action films - after all, if the bad guys were bette-r fighters or shooters, then the hero would be dead and the film would end halfway through - and then the audience would lose. Plus, if you go to see any action film - James Bond, Spider-Man, even the damn Smurfs - you know the central character's going to win out, right? Who wants to see that movie if Spider-Man loses?
I won't say this film is perfect, because it's not. Reacher's investigation manages to answer most of the lingering questions, but not all of them. But it's a solid thriller, and I feel it was worth the $5 I paid to keep my chain going.
Also starring Rosamund Pike (last seen in "Barney's Version"), Richard Jenkins (last seen in "Fun With Dick and Jane"), Robert Duvall (last seen in "To Kill a Mockingbird"), David Oyelowo, Werner Herzog,
RATING: 7 out of 10 missing fingers
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