While it doesn’t tear up the envelope of the action genre or stray far from the familiar template of mysteries, “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is agreeable middle-of-the-road entertainment.

Following up on the successful 2012 original, Tom Cruise returns as the ex-Army officer turned hitchhiking-nomadic-vigilante, inflicting pain and injuries on wrongdoers, henchmen and anybody who gives him too much lip. It’s a change of pace from Cruise’s work as intellectual superspy Ethan Hawk in the “Mission Impossible” series, swapping white collar high tech intelligence for blue collar fisticuffs.

The sequel moves a baby step forward beyond the original’s macho focus, broadening the potential viewership with sideline stories about family issues and strong supporting roles for a diverse cast. There’s even a hint of romance, without too much girlie folderol. Just as Lee Child’s bestselling Reacher novels stay popular through consistency, the film is stuff we’ve liked seeing before, presented in a way that’s fresh and easy to enjoy.

Thumbing his way across the country with nothing more than a toothbrush and a wad of cash in his pocket, Reacher travels light in every way possible. He’s a solitary law enforcer, independent, concise in speech and decisive without hesitation. He doesn’t receive a salary for his pro bono work. He doesn’t want one. Bone-breaking success is its own reward.

As a former major who commanded a large military police investigative team, he feels a rare connection to Maj. Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who has stepped into his old role at his Virginia-based unit. After a number of sparring, friendly phone conversations, Reacher wants to meet her enough to buy a luxury bus ticket across the country. When he arrives, he learns she has been imprisoned on an obviously trumped-up espionage charge.

Reacher springs her from confinement, and they are promptly on a race to bring down the corrupt military contractor that triggered her arrest. They also are staying a step ahead of the Hunter (Patrick Heusinger), a contract killer with uncomfortable parallels to Reacher. An ex-military antagonist just as tough and quick-witted on his solo missions, he’s every bit the hero’s equal, but much darker. He’s a lone wolf hit man who resembles Reacher if he committed bigger crimes than stealing cars and wallets when he needs them. They develop a phone contact of their own, tossing threats and “You’re good, Jack!” mockery. He doesn’t deliver the classic “We’re not so different, you and I” villain’s monologue, but he comes close.

Another key element of the story arrives in the form of Samantha (Danika Yarosh), a resourceful 15-year-old delinquent who might be a daughter Reacher never knew he had. Reacher and Turner pull the unwilling girl into their fugitive form of protective custody.

Cruise goes into full Liam Neeson protective papa mode as his would-be assassin gloats, “I’m gonna have some fun with your pretty little girl,” and “I’ve found a way to hurt you like you’ve never hurt before!” The ongoing game of hide and seek reaches the complexity of 3-D chess as the runaways are pursued by a MP captain (Aldis Hodge) who never liked Reacher as his old commanding officer.

Edward Zwick, who directed Cruise in the equally silly “The Last Samurai,” is competent here. While the action sequences are standard stuff, the characters are well established, and the script he co-wrote creates military evildoers without disrespecting the uniform.

Smulders is well-rounded as the rare woman in the protagonist’s life, going toe-to-toe with Cruise in conversations that slap down his sexist attitudes and fist-to-fist with the toughest bad guys. She handles each aspect well, and seems as if she would make a great Wonder Woman.

Yarosh raises her young character above cliches, moving gracefully between smug resentment, screams of horror and genuine warmth.

Cruise is professional as ever, revisiting a character with minimal personality and daredevil athletic prowess that appears to be beyond the abilities of a 54-year-old actor. When he clenches that famous jaw and turns on that intent 1,000-yard death stare, he’s still movie star magic incarnate. (Tribune Content Agency)

By Colin Covert

Star Tribune (Minneapolis)