13 Years Ago, A Rare Tom Cruise Miss Brought The Decade’s Best Action Hero To Screen For The First Time

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We can only be talking about Jack Reacher, first played by Tom Cruise over a decade ago. The film, titled Jack Reacher, centers around the titular character, an enigmatic former Army investigator, as he finds himself assisting in the investigation of a multiple homicide. The police have their suspect in custody, an ex-military sniper whom Reacher also believes is the right guy. But as the case unfolds, more details come out, throwing everything about it into chaos, and pointing to another suspect. The cast is stacked, with names like Werner Herzog and Rosamund Pike on it. Jack Reacher pulled in a 64% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer, but managed to get a few extra points with audiences, garnering a 67% on the Popcornmeter.

Tom Cruise Started A Legacy With His Portrayal Of Jack Reacher

Tom Cruise playing 6-foot-5 Jack Reacher is still pretty hysterical, but the movie has managed to age well, feeling like a blueprint for how the Prime show could avoid making the wrong Reacher adaptation a decade later. Jennifer Heaton of Alternative Lens says about the film, “The film has a very 70’s feel to it, reminiscent of classics like Bullit or The French Connection.” We now have Alan Ritchson in the role of Jack Reacher, bringing to the small screen a performance that is decidedly different from the one Cruise introduced us to over a decade ago.

The new iteration of Reacher is going above and beyond its predecessor, though, with the show having garnered a whopping 91% on Rotten Tomatoes throughout its 3 seasons—with a fourth on the way. Season one alone boasts a 92%, with critic Adrian Ruiz of But Why Tho? saying, “Reacher is Sherlock Holmes meets Commando in the best ways possible. Jack Reacher brings all the physical presence of an 80s action movie star while maintaining the mental ability of a 90s crime-thriller detective.”

Which version of Jack Reacher do you prefer? Let us know in the comments! And then head over to the ComicBook forum to keep the conversation going.