Jack Reacher: Never Go Back
Paramount Pictures | Release Date: October 21, 2016 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 43 Critic Reviews
Positive:
10
Mixed:
26
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamNov 2, 2016
With few words and the odd squint, Cruise hard boils all of his charisma into a clenched fist, but is more than happy to let a dynamic Smulders take the lead in many scenes. Read full review
80
EmpireJonathan PileOct 24, 2016
Overall, a superior sequel. Some people will never get over the height discrepancy but character-wise, Never Goes Back brings Reacher closer to the books for the type of thriller that rarely gets made these days. Read full review
75
Philadelphia InquirerTirdad DerakhshaniOct 20, 2016
Somehow, Reacher gets under your skin with his mordant wit, razor-sharp intelligence, and existentialist intensity. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleOct 20, 2016
This is a superior and assured action movie, a quality product that makes the case for a franchise. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversOct 20, 2016
Cruise finds the core of Reacher in his eyes, with a haunted gaze that says this lone wolf is still on a mission and still a long way from home. That's the Reacher Lee Child created in his books. And Cruise does him proud. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKenneth TuranOct 20, 2016
This Reacher outing has its imperfections and its obstacles to overcome, but the strength of the character and the briskness of the action make it acceptable if you are in the mood. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsEdward DouglasOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
70
ScreenCrushMatt SingerOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTom RussoOct 20, 2016
It all makes for competent but routine suspense. Read full review
62
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeOct 19, 2016
It’s nothing special, but it’s nothing awful, either. Read full review
60
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonOct 20, 2016
It shouldn’t seem shocking, but the most interesting thing about this second Cruise-fired action film based on author Lee Child’s nomadic, ex-military hero is its action. Read full review
60
Time Out LondonGuy LodgeOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
60
Screen DailyTim GriersonOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawOct 19, 2016
There is no juicy high-concept baddie this time around, but there is a lot of enjoyable hokum and cheerful ridiculousness. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinOct 24, 2016
The movie is lighter, more fun, and ultimately more satisfying than its weighty predecessor. Read full review
50
Village VoiceBilge EbiriOct 22, 2016
There’s no mystery, and the action is thoroughly disposable, but what works this time around are the interactions between Reacher and Turner, mostly thanks to the efforts of Smulders, who brings an impassioned frustration to her character. Read full review
50
Tampa Bay TimesJimmy GeurtsOct 20, 2016
Tom Cruise may be an A-list action star, but the Jack Reacher films are beginning to feel like the B-movies of his career. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzOct 20, 2016
The first scene in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back promises something interesting but delivers something considerably less. That’s a problem with the whole movie. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsOct 20, 2016
The latest Reacher film is directed, with reasonable skill and no trace of personality, by Edward Zwick, based on a screenplay taken from the 18th novel. I wish I had more dynamic news to report, but contrary to Reacher's own violent tendencies, some things in life and the movies practically defy a strong reaction. Read full review
50
Movie NationRoger MooreOct 20, 2016
When it works, it works. But if this character and this franchise are to survive, “Never Go Back” needs to be a promise Reacher makes — about ever playing a parent again. Read full review
50
USA TodayBrian TruittOct 19, 2016
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a major step backward with an A-list actor in a C-grade military thriller. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzOct 19, 2016
It’s a pity that Jack Reacher: Never Go Back fails to support Cruise and his co-stars, all of whom are acting as if their lives depended on it. There’s a great movie buried somewhere in here—a strange but beguiling family comedy and a meditation on nature vs. nurture, with a bit of shooting and punching thrown in—but the filmmakers never figure out how to excavate it. Read full review
50
ConsequenceClint WorthingtonOct 19, 2016
It’s two solid hours of disposable, forgettable action-thriller filmmaking with a competent Cruise performance in the middle. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyOct 19, 2016
Like its predecessor it’s an unremarkable placeholder until the next "Mission: Impossible" flick comes along. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesSoren AndersenOct 19, 2016
With anybody other than a superstar like Tom Cruise in the title role, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back would just be a routine potboiler. With superstar Tom Cruise in the title role, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is … a routine potboiler. Read full review
50
We Got This CoveredMatt DonatoOct 19, 2016
Tom Cruise is as muscly and bland as heroes come, restrained by the burden of two dead-weight companion pawns. Jack Reacher is a man who thrives on working alone, and this dull tale of backstabbing militant leeches proves that fact tenfold. Read full review
42
The Film StageDaniel SchindelOct 19, 2016
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is harmlessly generic. Read full review
42
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
42
IndieWireDavid EhrlichOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyNov 3, 2016
As a thriller, it’s lethargically paced, uninspiringly edited, and hardly raises your pulse even during life-or-death mano-a-mano. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottOct 20, 2016
The result is a well-executed but stubbornly formulaic crime thriller that telegraphs most of its major surprises long before they ever happen. It's not a bad movie, mind you. It's just one that will strike viewers as exceedingly familiar, and as generic as that say-nothing title. Read full review
40
The New York TimesManohla DargisOct 20, 2016
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is the second movie that Tom Cruise has starred in as this title character. Let’s hope it’s the last. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesOct 19, 2016
Never Go Back is boilerplate action-thriller, filmed with an anonymous style and scripted so that characters talk in catchphrases. Read full review
40
SlateMatthew DessemOct 19, 2016
Sometimes the film’s frenetic pace works, as in a brutally efficient half-second fight in an airplane bathroom. But more often, it feels like cinematographer Oliver Wood and editor Billy Weber are feuding. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
40
VarietyPeter DebrugeOct 19, 2016
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. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 20, 2016
But hey, at least Zwick and company carve out some time for Tom Cruise to run, with Reacher dashing across a busy avenue for about 18 seconds or so. It’ll make for a great supercut one day. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliOct 20, 2016
Unfortunately, as with too many films being made with the international market in mind, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a jumble of overhyped action scenes, trite dialogue, painfully bad “character development”, and awful writing. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperOct 20, 2016
The whole thing is just so sloppy and dumb and overflowing with clichés. Read full review
38
Charlotte ObserverLawrence ToppmanOct 20, 2016
You cannot always judge movies by their titles, but you sometimes get good advice. The sequel Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, supplies its own five-word review. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineJake ColeOct 19, 2016
The visual blandness of Edward Zwick’s style and the simplistic, easily solved case is better suited for television. Read full review
25
Washington PostStephanie MerryOct 20, 2016
Of course, action movies don’t have to be believable or poignant. They just have to get your adrenaline pumping. But the movie lacks inspiration in that department, too, owing to action sequences you’ve seen before, familiar music and dialogue so predictable you could make a game out of guessing the next line. Read full review
25
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyOct 19, 2016
Even as a star text, it’s shoddy. Read full review
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