Review: 'Jack Reacher' sequel not as good as 2012 original

The first film, "Jack Reacher," established the title character as a brilliant, brutal loner dedicated to justice.

What makes an archetypal character like this fun to watch is an unpredictable story, where the audience and protagonist together uncover the mystery.

In "Never Go Back," the bad guys are one-dimensional caricatures and the lone wolf is driven by protecting a teenager whom he insists from the start isn't his daughter.

This leaves the film riding on its action sequences and the charm of its central characters, played by Tom Cruise and Cobie Smulders.

The villain appears to be a white guy in a suit with an American flag pin on his lapel, but he isn't named and doesn't speak until the film's third act.

[...] there are some breathtaking action sequences, including a chase through New Orleans' French Quarter that sees Reacher scaling wrought-iron balconies above a bustling Halloween parade on Bourbon Street.

Never Go Back, a Paramount Pictures release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for sequences of violence and action, some bloody images, language and thematic elements.