All in all though, I rather enjoyed Reacher for what it is: a straightforward 'man rides into town, comes into conflict with the local baddies and ends by cleaning up the town' narrative. The show isn't going to engage your higher brain functions, but it has its charms. It is pretty violent: lots of torture, eye-gouging, bone-crunching, punching, stabbing, shooting, etc. Also head-butting: Reacher does a lot of that. It's rather amusing that in the warning at the beginning, the first thing on the list before violence, profanity, and nudity is "depictions of smoking". But if you aren't too squeamish about those things, and like seeing bad guys get what's coming to them, you'll probably enjoy Reacher.
I've been watching the Amazon Prime series Reacher over this last week or so, having previously finished five seasons of Line of Duty. Reacher is based on the book series by Lee Child; this first series is taken, logically enough, from the first book Killing Floor (1997). I've never read any of the books, but people who have say that the show sticks pretty closely to the novel's plot. There were a couple of movies which came out around ten years ago based on the books as well, starring Tom Cruise. I didn't see those either but they were not met with universal approval, one reason for this being because Tom Cruise was cast as the titular character. Cruise is a diminutive 5 ft 7, whereas Jack Reacher is supposed to be a hulking figure of 6 ft 5. The actor they have playing Reacher in the series- Alan Ritchson- is a much better physical fit for the role, being something like 6 ft 3 and simply bulging with muscles. I can't speak any further as to the accurate depiction of the character since, as I said, I haven't read the source material. The premise of the show is that Reacher- former military hero, current behemoth and self-described hobo- spends his time traveling about the country, going wherever he takes a notion to. He either walks or takes buses to wherever he goes, and travels light: just the clothes on his back and some cash. No phone. In the first episode, Reacher takes a notion to go to the small town of Margrave, Georgia where he is almost immediately arrested on suspicion of murder due to the fact that he was seen walking near where the body was found and, as we know, small town folk are always suspicious of strangers. It's soon proven that the murder took place before Reacher disembarked the bus he arrived upon, so he is freed but ends up staying in town to help solve the murder because it turns out he has a personal connection to it which I won't spoil here. It eventually is solved, after eight episodes and a very high body count. My overall opinion of the show is that it's... pretty good. I mean, if you're looking for a challenging mystery or in depth character study, this isn't it. It's pretty obvious from the get-go who committed the murder (eventually murders) and why, even if you don't know all of the particulars. The show pretty much just chronicles how Reacher, with the help of a few allies- old and new- figures out who the bad guys are and then proceeds to punch/stab/shoot them out of commission... usually out of existence. This is rather refreshing in a way; Reacher is not a conflicted character, anguished over the acts of violence he's engaged in. Instead, he matter-of-factly identifies the baddies and takes them out. Violently. And I'm okay with that. Speaking of the baddies, they are also rather one note characters, lacking depth or nuance; they're just straight up evil sadists. This is probably by design, since it allows us to watch Reacher brutally dispatch them without feeling anything other than approval. The show isn't perfect, by any means. As I mentioned, it's fairly predictable; even the requisite good guy who's actually working with the bad guys is obvious to anyone paying attention. It also lags a little in the middle; I'm not sure there was quite enough material to support eight episodes. Some scenes seem to be included merely to give Reacher another opportunity to have a punch up. There's also some gratuitous nudity... it exists merely to exist, doing nothing to further the plot in any way. The show also relies on a number of tropes about southern towns: the mayor who swanks around carrying a cane, the wise, observant barber who imparts knowledge from his shop, the corrupt rich businessman with the swaggering entitled son who drives around in his expensive pickup truck with his good ol' boy friends, intimidating people- that sort of thing. And, not to nitpick, the show is supposed to take place in Georgia, but since it actually filmed in Canada, the southern accents are few and far between. In addition, the entire plot hinges on Reacher arriving more or less by chance in a rural town where someone he knew just happened to get murdered. That's quite the coincidence. And, what might be the least believable thing for me, Reacher changes clothes frequently (his are always getting sliced, ripped, and bloodstained) which, since he doesn't carry baggage, he either buys at a thrift store or gets out of donation bins in store parking lots. Now, I've shopped at thrift stores; I'm short (5 ft 1 if I'm standing straight) and it's extremely difficult to find petite slacks that aren't too long in the inseam. This guy- a muscle bound 6 ft 5- reaches into a donation bin and pulls out a pair of jeans that fit him? I don't buy it: by rights he should be walking around in flood pants with a button that pops open every time he makes a sudden move. All other unlikely plot points in this show pale in comparison. All in all though, I rather enjoyed Reacher for what it is: a straightforward 'man rides into town, comes into conflict with the local baddies and ends by cleaning up the town' narrative. The show isn't going to engage your higher brain functions, but it has its charms. It is pretty violent: lots of torture, eye-gouging, bone-crunching, punching, stabbing, shooting, etc. Also head-butting: Reacher does a lot of that. It's rather amusing that in the warning at the beginning, the first thing on the list before violence, profanity, and nudity is "depictions of smoking". But if you aren't too squeamish about those things, and like seeing bad guys get what's coming to them, you'll probably enjoy Reacher.
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