Directed by Edward Zwick, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is the latest action thriller using Tom Cruise as a way to gain an audience.  Cruise’s presence in the movie is both a blessing and a curse, but more on that later.  Anyway, in addition to Cruise, however, the movie also stars Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany and Robert Knepper.

As for the film itself, it has a rather predictable plot.  Basically, it follows Reacher as he goes to visit Major Susan Turner who is in charge of his old unit.  Only, once he gets there, he discovers that the Major is being charged with espionage and has been taken in to custody.  Reacher, however, does not believe the charges.  In addition, he also discovers a woman had tried to sue the military for child support he owed (on a daughter he didn’t even know existed).  Ultimately, he discovers she was framed by a private military company in which her replacement was in league with.  They had killed two of her soldiers and intended to kill her in prison.  Luckily, he arrived before they had the chance to do so and saved her life causing them both to become fugitives.  They, in turn, have to rescue his “daughter” and take her in to their protection.  Meanwhile, they discover the private military company was doing something illegal with the guns—instead of just bringing them home to return them to the military.

Overall, I did feel the movie was entertaining and it was well shot.  Also, say what you say about Tom Cruise, but there’s a reason he’s remained a big star for more than three decades.  He oozes charisma, which makes him a really good leading man.  Unfortunately, his presence often means movies seem to rely too strongly on him and not enough on being a great movie.  There have been worse films to fit that bill than this one, but definitely belongs in that group.  Though the biggest problem with this movie is its derivative plot.  In other words, I’ve seen way too many action movies and, as a result, knew how it going to end at least half an hour before it did.  In addition, there isn’t really anything that new about the plot.  It’s been done many times before, often times better.

However, this does not mean the movie isn’t worth watching.  As a whole, it is an enjoyable movie.  But I’d recommend either watching it on theaters or checking it out on Netflix before deciding whether or not it is worth buying.