Jack Reacher may not have been a huge hit with the critics, accumulating an aggregate score of 61%, and it didn’t even look as though it would rake in the box office return to satisfy its studio, achieving a below average $80m from its domestic take. But the global performance flourished, and with a total of $218m internationally, Jack Reacher 2 was inevitable.

Jack Reacher Never Go BackRecently it was announced that Tom Cruise would be back for Reacher 2 –a franchise based on the novels of Lee Child. And today is has been revealed that the sequel will be based on the bestselling novel, Never Go Back, which has an intriguing - if not strange – plot (Deadline). It sees Reacher travel back to his old military base in Virginia to take the new commanding officer out to dinner. But by the time he gets there, she’s been arrested. Reacher is then charged with homicide.

Here’s the official synopsis of the book from Amazon:“After an epic and interrupted journey all the way from the snows of South Dakota, Jack Reacher has finally made it to Virginia. His destination: a sturdy stone building a short bus ride from Washington D.C., the headquarters of his old unit, the 110th MP. It was the closest thing to a home he ever had. Why? He wants to meet the new commanding officer, Major Susan Turner. He liked her voice on the phone. But the officer sitting behind Reacher's old desk isn't a woman. Why is Susan Turner not there?”

While the first film wasn’t the hit Cruise ‘n’ co wanted it to be, it did feature one of the more bizarre ‘baddie’ performances known to cinema. Werner Herzog stars in an exhilarating opening sequence, and the film is worth watching just for that. Oh, and Tom Cruise is actually quite good if you take the film with a liberal sprinkling of sodium.