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.

REACHER Trailer:

The Good:

Alan Ritchson is easily one of the best things going for Reacher. The cinematography in this series does a great job of really making him appear like a giant among everyone else. This is more than likely by design as the character, Jack Reacher, is a rather imposing figure. Ritchson embodies all of that, not only physically, but also through his performance. Despite the fact that Reacher himself seems like a more rigid character, I thought Ritchson did a stand up job with his acting. My personal favorite moments are just the simple situations when Reacher’s reaction to a threat will be a stern “No”.  The added bonus is how Ritchson’s delivery heightens an unexpected highlight of the series.

At first glance, Reacher seems like a thrilling action series. While that is mostly the case, Reacher also has a nice balance of both drama and humor. Ritchson’s straight and narrow Jack Reacher is a great compliment to his co-star Malcolm Goodwin’s character (Detective Oscar Finlay). The two strong minded characters clash from time to time, and there’s a good amount of levity that comes along with it. A similar dynamic between Richton and Willa Fitzgerald. I appreciated the other side of Jack Reacher that we get to discover through their interactions.

Besides the acting, the action in Reacher is really well done. I thought the fight choreography was well executed. The violence in Reacher likes to push some of the limits with just how gruesome Jack Reacher can get. Fortunately, it doesn’t get to the point where it’s unbearable to watch. Let’s just say you’ll never want to “dance” with Jack Reacher. The prison scene is a good example. That was a great way to set the tone of how far Jack is willing to go.

The Bad:

Reacher doesn’t have very many weaknesses. However, one aspect that kind of lost me a times were the deeper than necessary expositions. Often times, Reacher will have its moments where the character start to get into extremely heavy, and deep detail relating to the overall mystery. During those times I could just feel my attention drifting.

My assumption is that these moments in the episode may have been a bit too faithful in their adaptation of the novels. As a result, it seemed like one of those extra long descriptive parts of a book that you probably can skip to the next phase. Thankfully, the characters would eventually get to the point and put things into layman’s terms to reel me back in.

The Verdict:

Reacher is a gritty, action packed series that captures the heart of the Jack Reacher series. Alan Ritchson is a great fit for the role, and I have to say that I do look forward to seeing more of him in future seasons. Despite never reading the novels, Reacher did come across as being a more authentic take. (At least given what my online research of the books tells me anyway.) It is definitely worth a watch on Amazon Prime Video. Be sure to check out our interview with Alan Ritchson here.

Stars: Alan Ritchson, Malcolm Goodwin, Willa Fitzgerald, Chris Webster, Hugh Thompson, Maria Sten, Harvey Guillén, Kristin Kreuk, Currie Graham, Marc Bendavid, Willie C. Carpenter, Maxwell Jenkins, Bruce McGill
REACHER will be on Amazon Prime Video on February 4, 2022. Be sure to follow E-Man’s Movie Reviews on Facebook, Subscribe on YouTube, or follow me on Twitter/IG @EmansReviews for even more movie news and reviews!