Tom Cruise’s Jack Reacher should have taken his own advice and “never gone back” down this well-trodden path.

There’s a reason this film isn’t called Cobie Smulders: Never Go Back. It needs to be stripped of all this pretense, and it needs to embrace what it really is: A film that would have been sentenced to an eternity on the 3-for-2 aisle of the local DVD store had Tom Cruise’s face not been on those jingoistic, Trump state posters.

The movie suffers similar moments of forced conversations and it all seems like a twisted plot with predictable characters and obvious deductions simply to arrive at the climax where two grown-up professionals have a show down.

To cut to the chase, this crime thriller mostly works for its engaging plot and edge-of-the-seat action instead of its star power. However, if you are a massive Tom Cruise fan, do watch the film for that one scene towards the end, where he gives you glimpses of his ‘Top Gun’ days. That’s pure joy.

It’s a no-brainer for Tom or Cobie fans. Flaws and all, it still reaches out to you and drags you along for the ride.

…does not offer anything new. It’s a slow paced film that fails to give the adrenaline rush that is expected from a Tom Cruise starrer.

Never Go Back lacks that certain X factor despite pushing all the right buttons. Tom Cruise has survived all these years by displaying a boyish charm, even in his Mission Impossible films, which remain White comedies. But here, where he has to play a taciturn ex-army drifter with just a toothbrush to his name, the cracks show up in the not-so-young smile…

The movie feels underdeveloped, the jokes aren’t laugh worthy or clever for that matter and the treatment doesn’t have a consistent tone or temper to make the experience thrilling. Not quite the Cruise comfort we were looking for I say!

There are some attempts at violent hand to hand combat scenes but they matter so little because you don’t give a damn about any of the stock goons being beaten or even Reacher in general – because you know he’s not really going to die in the film. Forget this one and pop in the DVD of John Wick again. The sequel to that movie is the one to watch out for.

If you enjoyed Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, Edge of Tomorrow and Knight and Day, Jack Reacher is based on similar lines. You may have seen Cruise do the same a thousand times before, but his over-the-top action and nonchalant personality usually make for good entertainment. So go watch this one!

You are almost willing to forgive the cheesy emotional climax especially when it ends with Cruise’s electric smile. This one’s for Reacher, Cruise and Child fans alone.

Technically, with good production values, the film is well-mounted and would appeal to Tom Cruise’s fans, as it desperately attempts to replicate a franchise.

Ice and warmth even each other out. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back trundles along on the comfort of knowing that America, and Hollywood, is safe as long as Tom Cruise is around.