Reacher

Surprisingly good show, with great action scenes and a likeable main character. An interesting crime story that reminds us of good old-fashioned entertainment.

The story follows the atmosphere from the books well, and the casting is great. Alan Ritchson is a great choice for the role of Jack Reacher, not only does he look like him, but he conveyed his character well on screen.

Most of today's series is unwatchable, but this is a really positive surprise. The series follows the plot of the first book, "Killing Floor," and Reacher tries to find the culprits responsible for a series of murders.

The show is a real surprise, because it does not suffer from most of the common flaws of today's film production. There are only a few small things that could be better, but this is definitely better than the vast majority of today's shows, because it tries to entertain the viewer, and not bother him with unnecessary things.

The fight scenes are excellent, tense and brutal. Alan Ritchson is convincing in the role of Jack Reacher, but the other actors also portrayed their characters well. A really pleasant surprise, considering that most good stories are ruined by today's writers.

The show looks interesting, very cinematic and is well directed. The soundtrack is good, it blended in perfectly with the atmosphere of the story.

An interesting crime story with an excellent main character, tense plot, brutal action and a good cast.

Dear Hollywood, This is how it should work. People read a book. People like that book. You then just film the book directly. No messing about, no rewrites, no major edits, no nonsense, no casting someone 5'9" to play a 6'5" monster.

I read the book last year and the biggest change I could spot was that it was a slightly less ridiculous sports car that he borrows from the bankers wife.

New TV series streaming from Amazon, my wife and I watched two episodes on each of four successive nights. Sort of like movie nights. This is not high art, the writing has lots of humor, in real life Reacher couldn't get away with everything depicted. BUT ... it is a very entertaining series. Especially for those of us who enjoy seeing a smart, mild-mannered, well-spoken, well-trained, big tough guy put the bad guys in their places. Some simple thugs, some unruly prison inmates, some dirty cops. Ritchson is a real good pick for the role. (In an interview he said he gained 30 pounds for the role.)

My only disappointment, after watching the opening scenes at least a dozen times now, is that bite of peach pie never reaches Reacher's mouth when the local cops enter the cafe. However, they eventually rectified that!

Reacher is an ex-military man, he takes a bus to the small Georgia town, walks to town to look up an old blues singer's home, immediately gets arrested for murder, but eventually works with local law enforcement to help solve the mysteries, and there are several.

Most episodes are roughly 45 to 50 minutes long, set in a fictional Georgia town not far from Atlanta but filmed in Canada. Cast and characters are interesting. The story is not too deep but surprisingly interesting, just good entertainment. Streaming on Amazon.

Season 2: As we would expect with a different book as the source, with a different set of supporting characters, season 2 has a much different look and feel to it. As it starts we see a helicopter dropping a man, maybe already dead, into a snowy area of the mountains, north of Manhattan. Then it abruptly switches to Arkansas where Reacher is at a thrift shop and at the ATM notices a woman bruised and in tears, he promptly thwarts a carjacking.

After the first three episodes my wife and I are enjoying it but the content has more violence, shootings and killings. I suppose to appease some cross-section of viewers but I don't find it as interesting or as entertaining. While season one is "superb" season two, so far, is just "decent entertainment."

Season 3: As we expected, was totally different. It starts with Reacher in a used vinyl store in Maine when he notices something strange outside, it turns out to be an attempted kidnapping which he foils. The target was the son of a wealthy man played by Anthony Michael Hall, former teen star. Then there is the Belgian giant playing a guard named Pauli. Overall an interesting set of episodes, to us more enjoyable than season 2.

APR 2023 update: Over about 2 days I rewatched all of season 1, it was fresh enough after three years that I enjoyed it as much, knowing what the overall storyline was had me look at many scenes from a different angle. Season 1 is super, the others just OK.

I am surprised by people who gave the low ratings. I found it very watchable without the filler minutes that many of these series have now. Perhaps the villains weren't as good as some other shows, but they sure did evil things. Some pretty strong supporting characters for the cast, and some a bit lackluster.

I am sure there will be a season 2 and I hope it will be stronger than many of other Prime season 2 series.

Aside from the extreme breaches of the law, being held in a prison instead of a jail and the lies told about searches (Ep1) so far this seems like it will have some sustainability. You do have to set aside a lot of reality and truth and belief but I like it so far. Better than that cruddy Tom Cruise movie. They also actually got a guy to play Reacher that actually fit the description given in the books.