62
It’s nothing special, but it’s nothing awful, either.
What are people saying?
What are critics saying?
42
Cruise’s undeniable star power is all that keeps “Never Go Back” from feeling like it came off a studio assembly line, though you’ll still spend most of the movie wondering if you’ve been swindled into watching a movie about Ethan Hunt’s luddite twin brother.
70
New York Daily News by Edward Douglas
With all the action movies that have come before, it's tough to make car chases and fist fights seem original and exciting, but fortunately, there's enough of a story to keep things interesting even when you might feel a sense of déjà vu.
60
If Zwick’s film improves on Christopher McQuarrie's inaugural, incoherent 2012 entry in the series, it's not through any special initiative on the film's part. But it's efficient, unfussy, and doesn't try to think any faster than it can run.
70
Never Go Back could have used a bit more personality in the bad guy department, and the middle section sags a bit before the inevitable (and satisfying) denouement. But everyone involved seems to understand exactly what kind of movie they’re trying to make, and they deliver on just about every promise made by the title Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.
60
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
There is no juicy high-concept baddie this time around, but there is a lot of enjoyable hokum and cheerful ridiculousness.
40
Zwick barely manages to tickle our adrenaline, waiting till the climactic showdown amid a New Orleans Halloween parade to deliver a sequence that could legitimately register as memorable.
42
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back isn’t a throwaway, and mainstream action/thriller fans should come out more than satisfied at the visceral nature of the film. But anyone hoping for more than a superficial on-the-run chase movie will probably wish Reacher had stayed home, instead of going back.
60
Screen International by Tim Grierson
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is always faintly diverting but never particularly engrossing, putting the venerable movie star through his paces without really asking much of him.
40
The Hollywood Reporter by Todd McCarthy
By-the-numbers plotting, seen-it-all-before action moves, banal locations and a largely anonymous cast alongside the star give this a low-rent feel.