6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 3.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.2 |
Jack Reacher returns to the headquarters of his old unit, only to find out he's now accused of a 16-year-old homicide.
Starring: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Danika Yarosh, Patrick HeusingerAction | 100% |
Thriller | 32% |
Crime | 6% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: Dolby Atmos
English: Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
There's "by the book" and then there's "carbon copy of the book." Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is "by the book" in that it's, yup, by the book of the same name from Author Lee Child, creator of the Jack Reacher character, another one of these super-skilled government spook/military guys who have their own Thriller book series, like Mitch Rapp or Scot Harvath. But it's not "by the book" -- that other book, a.k.a. Hollywood's movie factory "book" -- in terms of a movie merely following "the formula" as laid out in "the book." No, there's too much wiggle room for creativity there, implying that the book is more a template than it is a Bible. Never Go Back is the dreaded "carbon copy of the book" instead, a movie with nary a smidgen of creative juice in its celluloid body. Bereft of originality in any way, shape, or form, it's a two-hour example of filmmakers more concerned with getting a product onto market and making a technically solid film but one that lacks any substance to go with it, and certainly not enough to live up to the expectations fans have for the character or the actor who portrays him, particularly after the first film's success.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back was shot on film, and the end product translates extraordinarily well to Blu-ray. Grain is retained, a light, pleasing sprinkling that accentuates the inherent film qualities. Texturing and details are excellent, and even if it's becoming increasingly easy to notice the lack of finer definition that UHD provides, there's no mistaking this as a top-shelf Blu-ray. Skin textures push about as fine as the 1080p format allows. Clothing lines are wonderfully defined, environments are sharp, and clarity is constant. A few shots appear slightly softer and smudgier than others, but such are few and far between. Colors favor a pleasant neutrality. There's no problem with accuracy or nuance, and there's no sense of push, either intentional or unintentional, towards altered contrast. Black levels are pleasantly deep and inky without approaching crush. Flesh tones appear natural. No print flaws or encode issues are readily apparent. This is a high end new release from Paramount.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back's Dolby Atmos soundtrack delivers the sort of top-flight Action/Thriller sound presentations fans expect of a brand new release. While the overheads aren't seriously active in terms of raining down sound from above (even during a heavy rain sequence near film's start), there's a noticeably fuller sense of atmosphere to the movie compared to other tracks with a simpler 5.1/7.1 configuration. The overheads also capture more in the way of discrete effects as an airplane takes off around the 51-minute mark; listeners will feel like they're in the cabin. Various shootouts and action-heavy scenes offer enough bullet whizzing, heavy impacts, and chaos to please. Shots punch with authority, impacts hit hard, the low end doesn't take a second off, and every speaker in the configuration contributes to a couple of key shootouts. Music is rich and well detailed, spacious and evenly so, pleasing and accurate throughout the range and around the room. Smaller support details are finely and naturally integrated, whether buzzes and heavy sliding doors in a prison or street-level party din in New Orleans. Dialogue is clear and detailed, always well prioritized, and naturally positioned in the front-center channel.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back's Blu-ray contains a handful of fairly meaty features. A DVD copy of the film and a voucher for a UV/iTunes
digital copy
are
included with purchase. This release also comes with a small Jack Reacher novella/graphic novel, Lee Child's Everyone Talks. It's very thin
and, dimensionally except for width, the size of the Blu-ray case. Slipcover fans should note that the slip is a bit oversized to accommodate the book,
so the slip won't fit snugly over the Blu-ray case without it.
Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is one of those movies that could be reviewed in a simple word string: dull, tedious, cliché, the list could go on. It's also a competent movie. Technically, there's nothing wrong with it. It's just dramatically empty and so uncreative it almost hurts. That's a surprise coming from a quality director like Edward Zwick, an actor like Tom Cruise, and from a source like the Lee Child novels that aren't as mechanically contrived as the film. Paramount's Blu-ray does boast the expected high-end video and audio. Supplements lack a commentary or deleted scenes, but fans do get access to half a dozen in-depth features. A high yield technical Blu-ray just can't save the movie, though. Rent it.
2016
Illustrated Short Story Booklet
2016
2016
Includes Illustrated Short Story Booklet
2016
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Unrated
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