PROLIFIC English novelist Lee Child created a minor gold mine in the character of Jack Reacher, retired US Military Police major who, on return from duty in Europe, adopts a vagrant lifestyle that finds him confronting all manner of malfeasances needing correction by a good man.

If you’re a bad guy, be afraid. Be very afraid. ‘Cos Jack’s gonna take you down before moving on to another town in another state and another bunch of bad guys. It’s what he does. It’s a dangerous existence even for a man whose creator describes him as 77 inches tall and around 250 pounds (Child has no reason to go metric).

In director Edward Zwick’s contemporary actioner, Reacher confronts bad guys in the military before joining ranks with comely Maj. Turner who accompanies him along a path where civilian bad guys are waiting to ambush him and her and also the teenage girl suspected of being his daughter.

The issues are simple. Stop the bad guys before they stop you. Shoot better than they do. Punch harder than they do. Watch your back because they outnumber you and exhibit neither goodwill nor distinguishing marks. Call in favours from former colleagues. Exploit the corners of the military system where important information awaits discovery. Triumph over them in time for the closing credits.

As Reacher, Tom Cruise (height 67 inches, weight 150 pounds) in his low fifties still does good physical stuff. But for my money, the last role needing him to act was in “Born On The Fourth of July” (1989). The role of Maj. Turner asks Cobie Smulders to deliver physical prowess rather than complexities of character.

The cinematic future of the Jack Reacher brand looks doubtful at best.

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