When high-profile actors take the lead in multiple franchises, it helps to make the franchises fairly different from each other. While Jack Reacher is fairly different from Tom Cruise’s time in the Mission: Impossible franchise, the characters of Reacher and Ethan Hunt feel remarkably similar. There’s one explanation: Cruise coasts on his charisma and star power, rather than working on differentiating his various roles. At least his star power shines brighter than almost any other star’s – Cruise turns the rather generic Jack Reacher into an enjoyable piece of violent fluff. Just check your brain at the theater’s door.