Jack Reacher: Never Go Back - Better than the original

I'm aware that sequels do tend to be inferior to their predecessors, however, after watching 'Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,' I can only conclude that this one is one of the few exceptions to that rule.  And, from my own perspective, I back this claim up because I can't actually remember a thing about the original film (besides some reviewers who had obviously read the book it was based on, moaning about how the titular character was well over six feet tall - Tom Cruise falls quite short of that I believe!).

Although, during the 'build up' to the point where 'Part II' really gets going, I was feeling that this film would also be forgotten in my mind as well.  The first half an hour is pretty generic, as Tom, er, sorry, Jack, is set up and forced to go on the run to clear his name.  Am I writing about Jack Reacher, or Jason Bourne here?!  Yes, the plot is hardly inspiring and the rest of the film is effectively a 'chase' with moments of bonding and character development from Jack and the woman he's on the run with, plus a possible daughter-figure.

The other characters do their best with what they're given, but Tom Cruise is such a big star that any film that has him in it means that everything is going to centre around him and the others can only do their best with the screen time they're given.  But they're all functional for what the story required.

I can't really say too much else about the film.  It's quite simple and nothing that you haven't seen before in recent time, i.e. with the Bourne franchise.  Yes, it has a lot of the same plot points and flaws, such as the villains fall into that 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' category of being pretty forgettable and little more than bad versions of Jack.  It's nearly two hours long, so you'll have to invest a little more time in it than most.  However, based on the fact that I can remember this one over a week after I've seen it and I couldn't remember anything about the original besides the narky comments about Tom's lack of stature, hopefully that means it's at least worth a watch if you're into your spy/chase-thriller type movies. 

In fact, this sequel has made me want to track down the original Jack Reacher film and give it another watch to see if I missed something the first time round.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that