Prime Video’s REACHER – Review

By Movie Geeks | February 3, 2022

By Marc Butterfield

All he wanted was to listen to blues singer Blind Blake, enjoy the simplicity of a single a piece of peach pie and not be bothered as he got off at the unscheduled bus stop in Margrave, Georgia.

If you’re a Jack Reacher fan, THIS is your Jack Reacher!

Reacher follows Jack Reacher, a veteran military police investigator who has just recently entered civilian life. Reacher is a drifter, carrying no phone and the barest of essentials as he travels the country and explores the nation he once served. When Reacher arrives in the small town of Margrave, Georgia, he finds a community grappling with its first homicide in 20 years. The cops immediately arrest him and eyewitnesses claim to place Reacher at the scene of the crime. While he works to prove his innocence, a deep-seated conspiracy begins to emerge, one that will require Reacher’s keen mind and hard-hitting fists to deal with. One thing above all is for sure: They picked the wrong guy to take the fall.

Season One of Reacher is based on Lee Child’s first Jack Reacher novel Killing Floor, and is written for television by Emmy-nominated writer Nick Santora (Scorpion, Prison Break), who also executive produces and serves as showrunner for the series as part of his overall deal with Skydance Television. In addition to Santora, the series is executive produced by Lee Child, Don Granger, and Scott Sullivan, with David Ellison, Dana Goldberg, and Bill Bost for Skydance.

The cast includes Malcolm Goodwin (iZombie) as Oscar Finlay, Willa Fitzgerald (The Goldfinch) as Roscoe Conklin, Chris Webster (Most Dangerous Game) as KJ, Hugh Thompson (Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111) as Baker, Maria Sten (Swamp Thing) as Frances Neagley, Harvey Guillén (What We Do in the Shadows) as Jasper, Kristin Kreuk (Smallville) as Charlie, Currie Graham (Murder in the First) as Kliner Sr., Marc Bendavid (Dark Matter) as Hubble, Willie C. Carpenter (Devious Maids) as Mosley, Maxwell Jenkins (Lost in Space) as Young Reacher, and Bruce McGill (My Cousin Vinny) as Mayor Teale.

The Amazon original series: Reacher is without a doubt the best Jack Reacher you can hope for: He’s big, smart, has a sense of humor, and best of all, heart. The first season is based on the first Jack Reacher novel, “the killing floor” and it sticks very close to the original material. The characters are all well fleshed out, the pacing is good, and the fights are movie-quality, you’re never left feeling like this is a small budget production.

The star, Alan Ritchson, last seen in the HBO Max DC series “Titans” as Hawk, shows how he’s grown as an actor, and never has a moment that you feel he’s not fully delivering the character. Also, one of the chief complaints Jack Reacher fans had about the Tom Cruise movie versions of the characters were that he was humorless, and also that he’s about a foot shorter than the character.

This part is no fault of the actor…MOST people aren’t as big as Lee Childs titular character. But therein lay the problem: it is mentioned a lot in the books that Reacher’s size makes him imposing, and he uses it not just for brute strength, but to give the aggressors pause about the damage a man this size can do. Add in the fact that he is a very skilled hand-to-hand combatant, and you have a scary dude.  If you aren’t familiar with the character, he is very much a Sherlock Holmes character, but not boring, and not without a lot of heart and compassion. There are times when he is angry, cold, flat-out determined, and even vengeful…but rarely do you get the dispassionate killing machine arch-type that we see so much in movies today. There is always a reason for Reacher’s actions. In season 1 (and I really, REALLY hope we get future seasons after having seen this one) there are a lot of flashbacks that give you important events in the life of Jack as a boy that show you what kind of person he is, but you never feel like you are being taken out of the current story, and these do help you to more fully get where he is coming from.

Not to forget the supporting cast, who are all excellent. They each add to the story, you’re never left thinking that any one of them could have been removed and that the story would have been exactly the same. There are small deviations from the book, an extra character here and there, but all add to the rich tapestry of the story.

The creative artists’ work is also top notch and an integral part to the story. Series composer Tony Morales’ score creates an atmosphere of immediacy, menace and suspense, while cinematographers Ronald Plante and Michael McMurray, Production Designer Patricio M. Farrell and Art Director Nathan Blackie’s work captures the essence of a sleepy, if not a mysterious southern town in Georgia.

The editing by J.J. Geiger and choreography of the performances by the stunt actors and performers are both riveting and thrilling. The fight scenes are some of the best in a series and amazing to watch.

Each episode is exciting, and keeps you hooked until the next. Personally, I was addicted by the second episode and with the final episode, “Pie,” viewers will discover by the conclusion that each part is a rich slice in this engaging series.

Whether you are an old fan, or just looking for a damn good series to binge and follow, I think you’ll find yourself rooting for Reacher… it’s one helluva ride.

4 out of 4 stars

Photos: Amazon Studios