Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

This review comes from someone who has jumped straight to the second film, without ever seeing the first. In this "Never Go Back" instalment, Director Edward Zwick brings Tom Cruise back as Reacher - this time as an "ex-military" version of the hero penned into existence by British (no not American) writer Lee Child (who neatly takes a minor role in the movie!) And this work adds further weight to the idea that "ex-military" mostly seems a bit of a contradiction in terms (just like "ex-CIA", for that matter). Indeed, its "ex military" that Reacher is now also up against, given that our enemies here are those chief bogeymen since the 1990s - private defence/security contractors. You know, the people that Eisenhower warned us about in 1961, the people working in businesses of the kind that enriched a former Vice President of the USA, the people that Harvard's Prof. Michael Sandel likes to home in on when he asks: when did the American people ever give permission for their wars to be fought - or at least mopped up - by the private sector? Those kinds of people.Anyway, there's plenty of whizz-bang stuff here, violence aplenty with "crunchy" sound effects (yes, really), and none of it looks especially real-life, or indeed worthwhile, except maybe to keep us on our toes in wondering what those private-sector military are up to, on their own, or when they hook up with the military proper. This chunk of the wider military-industrial complex is not pretty, as it's portrayed here as black ops, devious, with fingers in every pie, casual about human life, keen to make money at all costs, and so on.So no real surprises there...Indeed, one might pretty much say that's all there is to the rather unoriginal work that is "Never Go Back" ... and bye-bye. This is not quite so, however, given the dynamics and interest of a kind of "impromptu family on the run in a road movie gone wrong" that appears for much of the film, thanks to a deliciously hot Cobie Smulders as Major Turner, Reacher himself, and sassy teen Samantha played by Danika Yarosh. Cruise is more or less his usual character here (love it or hate it, I mostly love it), but Smulders is classy and plays a more-than-one-dimensional role, while Yarosh is far, far better than we have any right to expect. Indeed, the extremely patient viewer rounded enough to be interested in various aspects of this movie beyond the "bangs for the bucks" will have a fine cinematic treat in store with a final scene played out between Yarosh and Cruise. So genuine and well done (and touchingly thought-provoking) is this that it delivered the tears to my (father-of-a daughter) eyes within moments, and it also segued beautifully into some touching music from British composer Henry Jackman. Now what to say about a film that scores best where you don't expect it, and is best of all in its - entirely untypical - last 3 minutes? For this reason, enigmatic to say the least, I've gone for a 7 here. Call me crazy if you will...

There's just not much good you can say about this movie. Dialogue is forced...action scenes pretty poor and a general waste of time. I like Tom Cruise but he looks and seems too old for this role. First Reacher was better for what that's worth.

I saw this in the theater and enjoyed it since I'm a fan of Lee Child's books. Seeing this again on DVD, I see a few errors I don't like. Tom is in another fight being surrounded by thugs and he beats them all. Just rush in and beat his a**, don't do it one-at-a-time! Same as in the 1st Reacher film. Same as in the Samurai film. The fights I felt were poorly choreographed. Huge hard punches but no bruises or blood. Tom/Jack got 'whupped' on the roof in the final fight but no blood or visible bruises on his face after 2 vicious punches and 1 kick. "C'mon, Gimme A Break!" A little more real please. Too bad Jason Statham wasn't chosen for this. He would have been 100% better and the right physical size too.

I suggest Tom Snooze read his own movie title and "Never Go Back". How can anyone take a 140 pound five foot seven inch middle aged actor serious as a one man wrecking crew?Tom, I suggest you leave the action genre to guys like Dwayne Johnson, John Cena, Dave Bautista, and even legitimate senior citizens like Sylvester Stallone and Dolph Lundgren who are more believable.Hey Tom, I got an idea for your comeback! Why don't you try and make a sequel to your now 35 year old 1983 film Risky Business and call the sequel "Old Time Rock and Roll". I am quite sure all your (now) loyal grandmother fans who watched you 35 years ago prance around in your underwear singing karaoke Bob Seger's Old Time Rock and Roll would get even a bigger laugh seeing you do that again than watching you pretend to be a middle aged badass action hero.I give this sequel a lowly 3 out of 10 rating and please Tom Snooooooze, "Never Go Back" to the action genre again.