Jack Reacher is based on Lee Child’s novel One Shot, featuring the title character – an ex-Army cop, who’s since become a drifter. The decision to cast Tom Cruise as Reacher has prompted much debate among fans. It’s been brought up before (ad nauseum), but, as clarification for those new to the discussion: Child describes Reacher as a force of nature, whose physical attributes (think someone who looks like Dolph Lundgren, or an older version of Chris Hemsworth) define everything from his attitude to his behavior towards the world.
Today, we have a teaser trailer for Jack Reacher that could pull double-duty by changing fans’ opinions about the casting of Cruise – and, get everyone else excited to see what could be the first installment in a new action movie franchise (featuring the A-lister).
… To be honest, though, this writer isn’t sure how the Jack Reacher teaser will go over with the moviegoing masses, and has a feeling that general reactions could fall along the following lines:
- For those not familiar with the titular anti-hero: the trailer creates the impression that Cruise is playing a variation on Ryan Gosling’s Driver from Drive; albeit, one whose rough exterior and manner makes his outbursts of rage – and dangerous nature – more predictable and less shocking (in my opinion, of course).
- For those who ARE familiar with the titular anti-hero: the trailer suggests that Cruise is just playing a darker version of Ethan Hunt from Mission: Impossible – or a less-coiled version of Vincent from Collateral – rather than offering an intriguing interpretation of the Reacher character.
In all fairness, though, the teaser doesn’t show that much of Cruise as Reacher; by comparison, the recent Alex Cross trailer provided a much better sampling of Tyler Perry’s take on that film’s titular protagonist. Furthermore, Jacker Reacher was written and directed by Oscar-winner Christopher McQuarrie, who’s well-renowned for his ability to craft sharp, hard-edged dialogue and crime stories (see: The Usual Suspects and Way of the Gun). So, a green-band teaser might not do justice to either the film or Cruise’s performance.
Not to mention: the supporting cast of Jack Reacher (including Rosamund Pike, David Oyelowo, Jai Courtney, and Werner Herzog) reads as quite promising. We’ll have to wait for a full-length Jacker Reacher trailer to see what they bring to the latest Cruise show, though.
Jack Reacher opens in theaters around the U.S. on December 21st, 2012.
Source: Yahoo! Movies
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Hmmm…
I’m still not sure.
Granted this is just a teaser but IMO all it shows is Tom Cruise doing what Tom Cruise does in every other action movie he’s in.
And if you’re not a fan of Cruise being cast in the film I don’t think this will change your mind. Especially during the last bit when he seems to be 6 inches smaller than everyone else in the clip. Including the woman
no freaking way is this Jack. I did not watch I just went crazy when I read this. Jack is the man and Tom is the boy…..Please give us a man
first trailer i have seen where Tom Cruise isnt running. He always runs!
reminds me of Ryan Gosling in “Drive”
isn’t reacher supposed to be like 6ft 8 or something. Cruise is tiny!
Funny, I am going through the books now. Reacher is a big bastard! That is part of who he is. How do you translate that into a 5 6 guy? Why can’t they cast at least just a tiny bit closer to the source material?
You could say exactly the same thing about a highly anticipated comic book movie that comes out near the end of this month.
Bane wasnt a monstorous tower of a person originally. He was at peak physical form. Hell, venom didnt even make the user grow in size until years later lol
So, no, you could not say exactly the same thing about a highly anticipated comic book movie that comes out near the end of this month.
Bane WAS a monstrous tower of of a person, and we will get to that in a moment.
For all you know, he could be talking about Bruce, who stands at 6’2 compared to Christian Bale’s 5’10, so don’t jump the gun.
But if you called it right that he was talking about Bane, remember how tall I said Bruce was compared to Bale? Well the difference in height between Bruce and Bane is even greater, with Bane half a foot taller than Bruce.
Meanwhile, Tom Hardy stands at 5’9. Luckily, camera trickery can compensate.
I’m sure that Cruise will deliver in the lead role like he normally does. If Jack Preacher is a box office hit, it will further cement Cruise’s star power and recent comeback. The recent rehabilitation of his public image has taken a hit with news of his recent divorce. Good decision though to release it in December
Yea TOM CRUISE IS THE s*** but they need somebody bigger like for instance somebody bad ass…Jason Statham probably?
…Are you serious?
Not sure if trolling, but in case you aren’t, that is a horrible idea.
WHAT HAPPEN TO THAT MOVIE WHER THIS SOLDIER IN THE FUTURE WHERE HE DIES AND HE KEEP REPEATING THE SAME MISSION UNTILL HE GETS IT RIGHT?
TC WAS SUPPOSE TO BE IN IT ITS A JAPANESSE BOOK IM GUESSING BUT THAT STORY SOUNDED COOL I THOUGHT IT WAS CALLED ONE SHOT BUT DOESNT LOOK TO FUTURE TO ME.
OR IS IT CALLED KILL EVERYTHING? ALL I KNW IT HAS KILL OR SHOT IN IT
its called all you need is kill and it starts filming in september in uk,france and malta.
as for this trailer-its awesome.it will be a good,kick ass thriller and thats the only thing important to me
Tom is not intimidating as the character. Whose idea was it to use that scene for a trailer? When it clearly doesn’t work. I’ll wait for a final judgement when the full trailer comes out. At least Collateral had a great trailer
I’m a huge Jack Reacher fan, read all the novels and can’t believe they’re trying to pass Cruise off. He’s a foot too short, way too light (both in size and style) and his voice is way too feminine. Reacher is modelled on a younger Clint Eastwood or Harrison ford. My personal pick would be Alexander Skarsgard or maybe Daniel Craig, certainly not Cruise.
Good comparison…..I too just don’t picture Cruise as anything like Reacher…..If they were going with someone not as tall, then Collin Farral would be much more like Reacher….And there’s plenty others, but Farral does that sitting on top of a valcano personality really well.
agree I have read every Jack book no wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy is Tom Jack
Selecting Tom Cruise to play Jack Reacher is like casting “Tom Thumb” to portray Goliath! Bad choice by casting folks IMO !
um… that trailer music was almost note for note the mission impossible theme.
You have a terrible ear for music. That is The Black Angels – Young Men Dead.
Not the right tempo, tune, pitch, anything.
im sorry, maybe i wasnt specific enough, the riff in this trailer sounds to me VERY similar to the music used in the begining of the mission impossible 2 trailer, that song being ‘take a look around’ by limp bizkit. theres a similar beat in there, maybe not the same tempo or pitch, but theres a similarity there otherwise i wouldnt have picked up on it. nothing against black angels, im not saying its a bad song, i actually like it, but i bet they picked it bc the riff sounds a bit mission impossibley to draw people in.
it was young men dead by the black angels
when i heard it i thought MI too
I wish people would STFU about how tall the character, and Tom Cruise, actually are. We all know by now, internet, you don’t have to keep repeating it…
I cannot believe they have cast Tom cruise! He is as far away from jack Reacher as it is possible to get. These books could be the next James bond an amazing set of stories that could translate into amazing films, unfortunately they have managed to cast the absolute wrong person for the role. So disappointed.
While I’ll still watch it, I’m not sure how I feel about Cruise portraying a military character. Some actors are very credible cast in those roles and others are not. He’s definitely an alpha male, but that isn’t necessarily intimidating and to compare his presence in the trailer to the build-up by the hospitalized character, they didn’t align.
As for the trailer, portions of it made me think of the revenge flick Jim Caviezel made a few years ago called Highwaymen. The score reminded me of Mission: Impossible too.
Id rather see Tom Cruise in a movie about Scienetology and how it has completely corrupted his life!
The trailer albeit a teaser, doesn’t show anything we havent see a million times before – Drive, Faster, Fast and Furious, Transporter etc However I love Tom in movies so will defo be seeing this, MI4 was awesome!
It’s easy to see why Cruise wanted this role. It’s the harder and much edgier version of his Ethan Hunt character. The problem is, Jack Reacher is supposed to be intimidating and quite frankly Cruise is not. Cruise once again becomes a distraction to what should be a great character.
Needs more running.
Tom Cruise vs Ryan Gosling?
Really? Drive is and, after this comes out, will still be better no question. Tom Cruise has more lines in this cheesy trailer than Gosling had in the entire film.
Haha the trailer is actually using the mission impossible music. Or a very very slight variation of it. I mean have some faith in new franchise, geez.
I have a 6’9″/206cm tall friend. It infuses his whole life – how he carries himself (especially ducking doorways), people’s reactions to him (strangers asking how tall he is in amazement), jokes he makes and we make to him, and so on in every aspect of his life. It echoes for me how Lee Child infused his stories with Reacher’s size, weight and strength. It would be absolutely impossible for Tom Cruise to reflect the life and story of my friend. It is equally impossible that he do so for Reacher. This is a consequence of Lee Child’s own writing, and his apparent casting about-face reeks of wanting to earn money and fame. Cruises’ semi-breathy voice is absurd for the book-Reacher and the scene mentioned by a previous poster where he faces the baddies and looks considerably shorter than everyone standing around him is just ridiculous. The movie seems to be a by-the-numbers thriller with every unique element of the book-Reacher anodized out of existence. It may be a fun movie, for sure, but it will not be a Reacher movie.
I have to agree with Commenter here. I’ve been a massive fan of the Reacher book series since the very beginning and it really pains me to see an actor like Cruise performing this role. I’ve got no issue with Cruise as an actor, per se; it’s just that he’s totally the wrong choice for this particular role. I can’t believe Lee Child would even let this happen and I have to wonder if it’s more about the pay check than the integrity of the character.
People who’ve not read the books won’t care one bit – much like people who haven’t read Robert Ludlum’s Bourne series of books probably don’t care about the massive disparity between Ludlum’s text and the Hollywood output (that’s a whole other story!) – but if that’s what Lee Child thought when signing the deal, doesn’t it imply that he doesn’t really care what his existing fan base thinks? What’s more, new fans who see the movie and decide to pick up the books off the back of it are going to question the decision to use Cruise given his, er, ‘short’comings later on too, aren’t they?
I’m not sure Lee Child had any say in the casting. I imagine it went like this….
A production company buys the rights to the Reacher character and Child loses all say at this point.
Tom Cruise is on the look-out for a new character since MI has run its course.
What Tom Cruise wants , Tom Cruise gets.
Somebody posted that we should all stop talking about the ‘size’ issue.
Thats not gonna happen because one of the main characteristics of the Reacher character is his height and build. Bad guys think twice when they realise they have to go up against this man mountain. Tom Cruise is not physically intimidating. He has more the look of a male model.
A point that I have not seen mentioned is Reachers ‘looks’. He is NOT a pretty man ! He has scars , lumps and bumps from years of fighting. More like a retired boxer’s face. Tom Cruise is way too pretty.
I’m sorry – I like Cruise but this has spoilt the Reacher movie for me before I’ve even seen it.
agree if Jack stands up the bad guy sits down
The only book I’m familur with might be the first book…The Killing Floor. I know there’s mention of him being tall, but I don’t recall it being a primary feature in that book. I think he mentioned an FBI agent being almost as tall as he was, but other than that I don’t think it was a big part of the make up. I don’t think it needs to be a factor in the movies except to those who insist that movies follow books to a T, but then why watch the movie….You’ve already seen it. Personally I like the fact that movies are a different interpretation than the books (As long as they’re done as well) That way we get to enjoy two interpretations of the same story.
What’s primary is that Jack Reacher can handle himself in any situation and will eliminate the bad guys as though they’re enemies of state who need to be taken out before they harm others……Granted in real life that excuse doesn’t hold water, but in The Killing Floor it really came down to kill or be killed, and there really wasn’t back up. I’m guessing the other books in the series are something like that also so Reacher at least has a viable excuse for killing people if it comes down to it.
In the front of every Jack Reacher book it has a list of his statistics & his height & weight are there. The books might mention how tall he is once or twice but they do say he has an intimating presence.
please tell me Lee had no say in this
maybe a ripped mickey rourke, or a “shoot em up” esque Clive Owen, but personally I would love to see malin Ackerman take that role. Sorry Tom this one isn’t right for ya dude…
Malin can be a perfect intimidator, his face is weathered, Voice is gravel which as an avid fan is exactly the way I see Jack in my minds eye.
Well I had slight hopes for this movie but judging from the trailer and how Cruise was talking and whatnot, I have to say that this is no Reacher movie and I am highly disappointed that they went for a money-grabbing A-lister name instead of someone who could pull off the character a lot better.
You have got to be joking – anyone who casts Tom Cruise as Reacher has not read the books
Yeah I reckon Paramount must be feeling pretty scared – using virtually an exact replica of the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE score, to me, says they are desperate to tap into that fan base and ride off the back of their GHOST PROTOCOL success. Pretty lame decision, IMHO. Perhaps they feel this film is not a strong enough stand-alone entity to attract an audience. Anyone who has read the book will be disappointed with the casting.