REVIEW #145 Reacher (Season 1)

Reacher is the latest project to take on Lee Child’s Jack Reacher character and this time it’s in the form of a TV series. A veteran military police investigator arrives in a small town called Margrave but is quickly pulled into a murder investigation where he’s the main suspect.

CAST & THE ACTING 

Alan Ritchson plays the iconic Jack Reacher and he delivers a strong performance, granted it’s a completely different direction to Tom Cruise’s portrayal but it worked really nicely. He delivers exciting combat choreography but his comedy also lands pretty much every time too, which helps to bring a nice balance to the series as a whole. I haven’t read the books so just how accurate this portrayal is to the source material, I don’t know but from a neutral perspective, I enjoyed the performance and I’m a big fan of Ritchson anyway so he gets my seal of approval. Malcom Goodwin plays detective Finlay and Willa Fitzgerald portrays Roscoe, both deliver strong performances that help create an interesting trio for the audience to route for. 

THE STORYLINE

I have always enjoyed the premise of Jack Reacher projects, it’s almost like he has traits of Sherlock Holmes in terms of intelligence and how he breaks down crime scenes but he is also an expert military combatant too! There is a lot to like about the Reacher storyline, it’s an intriguing detective story that gets you switching back and forth between the characters you think are behind the murders. What the series does a lot better than the films is deliver a lot of humour too, Reacher is a funny guy and that aspect I particularly enjoyed. There is also a lot more character development, with flashbacks providing the necessary context for the character. The relationships between Reacher, Roscoe and Finlay are one of the highlights of the series, I loved how Finlay is basically the opposite of Reacher and their constant back and forth creates a really authentic friendship over the 8 episodes. My main criticism with the plot is how Reacher ended up in Margrave, I know he’s a character that stays off the grid and floats around the country but I just feel like the reasoning was the weakest element of the storyline. They tried to link it to his brother but even that was a weak attempt to be honest.   

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

The cinematography was pretty average, there was a couple of cinematic style shots that looked good but other than that there isn’t much to talk about. The action choreography was captured well and looked authentic, my favourite scene in that regard was definitely the prison fight scene. The soundtrack was pretty good too! In terms of special effects there wasn’t any really, perhaps a little with the blood and injuries, which in fairness did look realistic. The finale was constructed well, that warehouse scene had a lot of different elements to it that created a lot of tension and excitement, from the smoke screen to the lighting. 

OVERALL (7.5/10)

I enjoyed Reacher, as far as opening seasons go, it was good! Alan Ritchson fits the role well and he delivers on both the action front and the comedy side of things too. His supporting cast also deliver strong performances and help create authentic characters that the audience can get invested in. The storyline is engaging and does get you hooked almost straight away, throwing in a few curve balls to keep you guessing. The cinematography was probably the weakest category, not that it was bad but it was just pretty average. I haven’t read the Jack Reacher books so I can’t tell you how accurate it is to the source material but I liked it nonetheless and would definitely recommend giving it a go.

Thanks for reading.

Callan