Jack Reacher Series (Amazon)

opus · 10-02-2022 10:28pm

Haven't read any of the book but saw the first Tom Cruise film which I found fairly forgettable as in I can't remember anything about the plot. Enjoying the series so far, 5 episodes in. Reacher's dark sense of humour appeals to me.

budhabob · 10-02-2022 11:32pm

Just finished this, thoroughly enjoyed it. Reminds me of Banshee which is the best complement I think any show can get.

pixelburp · 11-02-2022 7:10am

On episode 2 and oh look, it's a slick talking businessman who brought jobs and money to this small town. I wonder will he have had anything to do with the murder-conspiracy ... Hmmm ... 🤔😁

Ljmscooter · 11-02-2022 4:52pm

Massive well trained guy getting thrown around by tiny thugs

Was rubbish

Heckler · 11-02-2022 10:07pm

I voiced my doubts early on as a fan of the books and in particular Killing Floor, the first Reacher novel.

Another reviewer summed it up for me. "Not as bad as I expected but not as good as I had hoped".

The casting of Reacher himself was pretty spot on. Didn't much care for Roscoe, Finlay was ok. He is what I had in my mind from the books. The series itself was a faithful enough adaptation of the book with some bits left out and others put in. I don't mind about the driving thing or the tech. Book was written 27 years ago. Adapt to stay current while keeping the spirit of the story.

I presume it will be renewed so I hope they think long on what book the new series should be based on. I can't remember the sequence but they shouldn't stick rigidly to it. Some are a lot better than others. The first Cruise movie was based on One Shot which would have been ideal but I guess they won't rehash that. The second Cruise movie was based on Never Go Back which was a mediocre Reacher book at best and a dismal movie.

Punisher is one that comes to mind that could translate well to series.

The last 3-4 Reacher books are written by Lee Childs brother and are rubbish. Even toward the end of Lee Childs involvement the books were getting stale.

Anyway would defo watch another series.

Mr.Nice Guy · 12-02-2022 12:39am

I found it enjoyable despite it being pretty silly at times. One thing that bugged me was these huge leaps of assumption that Reacher would constantly make. This seemed to happen in every episode.

He'll find a bag of crisps and be like, 'The killer has a penchant for fast food. He'll weigh upwards of 300 pounds and spend his evenings gorging on chocolate and ice-cream. He's compensating for a difficult childhood in which his parents never loved him.'

'Mate, it's a big of crisps. Relax.'

I liked the guy playing Reacher. Roscoe was good too. Didn't particularly care for Finlay who was hard to warm to. I'd be interested in seeing another series.

downtheroad · 12-02-2022 12:51am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118619121#Comment_118619121

Yeah how he found Hubble was a bit outrageous. You mentioned in passing you like The Beatles, George Harrison is first alphabetically. OK.

Thought it was a great series though. That actor is Jack Reacher.

The one thing that bugged me was the one guy that nearly killed him was a scrawny little fella. Reacher knocked out 5 tough prisoners no problem, but that little weedy cousin nearly took him out. They should have had a bigger opponent. Bit overall it was a great series and I look forward to season 2.

Daemonic · 12-02-2022 11:32am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118619121#Comment_118619121

The leaps are a bit jarring in the TV adaptation alright. In the books you tend to get a lot more of Reacher's inner monologue so they seem more a logical progression rather than a huge leap.

California Dreamer · 15-02-2022 8:27pm

The blonde cop in her knickers scene was unnecessary. Feels like every show these days has to have a shot of the female lead looking vulnerable in some way.

setanta1000 · 16-02-2022 11:04am

I'm five episodes in and loving it...it's been a while since I read the book so I probably wouldn't spot any divergences anyway but to me it seems to be pretty close.

To be fair the books are popcorn escapism and the series matches that perfectly - it's great fun...and anyone complaining about Willa Fitzgerald in her knickers is no fun in my book 😛 [not sure if this is the correct emoji but to be clear I don't want to start a fight with the West Coast Escapist].

Roll on Season 2!

Xander10 · 16-02-2022 11:20am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118636743#Comment_118636743

and a shower scene...😜

sydthebeat · 16-02-2022 11:25am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118636743#Comment_118636743

you think she looked "vulnerable" in her knickers??

i dont think she was portrayed as vulnerable at any point in the show at all?? in fact the opposite was explicitly expressed

16-02-2022 12:06pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118639489#Comment_118639489

Yeah it's like saying that Reacher was vulnerable in his jocks, at prison intake.

She was constantly shown as more than capable, even when cuffed to the railing she was just waiting for her chance to act

California Dreamer · 16-02-2022 1:59pm

I just think it was unnecessary. The token knickers scene and subsequent booby shot.

sydthebeat · 16-02-2022 2:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640423#Comment_118640423

meh, its generally an 18+rated show. theres plenty of male nudity including male genitalia, plus a titty bar scene. reacher gets his top off as often as he can :)

i dont think a quick boob shot in a love scene in a shower is much to make a deal of to be honest.

16-02-2022 2:43pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640423#Comment_118640423

I hope Banshee isn't on your To Watch list...

py · 17-02-2022 6:01pm

In several (perhaps all?) of the books, there is a romance element to the story line so not surprised to see the shower scene in the series.

17-02-2022 6:48pm

Wasn't it all very deliberately post-me-too compliant with her being the sexual initiator by following him into the shower?

As opposed to the old movie / tv days where it might be a slap to the face and a forced kiss to follow to kick things off.

pc7 · 17-02-2022 7:39pm

Well I hope Reacher has his top off many a time in season 2, showers, cars or prisons, I enjoyed them all. He’s an absolute beast of a man and I’d happily share a shower! ;)

stellamere · 17-02-2022 7:45pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640677#Comment_118640677

Must check that one out.... purely for research purposes.

17-02-2022 7:57pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118648627#Comment_118648627

Some may like it - plenty of gratuitous tits and ass with some hot women and lots of equally gratuitous violence but really let down imo by pretty crap main plot continuation storylines and equally bad episode storylines that jump all over the place.

pc7 · 17-02-2022 8:31pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640677#Comment_118640677

Banshee is unreal, you’re in for a treat if you haven’t watched it. The banshee prison scene makes teacher look like paw patrol.

John_Rambo · 17-02-2022 10:18pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118648668#Comment_118648668

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118434523#Comment_118434523

Exactly what we expected.

17-02-2022 10:23pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118649490#Comment_118649490

eh I was talking about Banshee there in response to another poster - not Reacher.

you might have lost the context of the thread there I suspect.

My summary on Reacher from a page or two back was as follows ->

It's perfectly grand inconsequential popcorn stuff to buzz through like the Amazon Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan series - very much in the same mould as that really.

Not surprised to see some of the same production companies in common across both series.

17-02-2022 10:25pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118640423#Comment_118640423

You sure don't have a finger on the pulse of the average viewing Audience member...but I and I suspect the Actors themselves would agree.

John_Rambo · 17-02-2022 10:51pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118649518#Comment_118649518

Sorry!! I misunderstood. Haven't even heard of Banshee.

CastorTroy · 17-02-2022 11:00pm

Any chance to praise Banshee is always good. When I recommend it I suggest to give it at least 3 episodes as you have an idea of the content by then. Also some of the best fight scenes. Warrior is great as well.

Anyway, for Reacher, while they say they haven't decided on the next book to adapt yet, I wonder if production can run smoother now or will COVID restrictions still be in place on set by the time they're filming, which I'm sure can slow things down. Either way it'll be next year by the time the next one releases, but hopefully still be around the same time.

Problem now is they renewed it so quickly due to its success, and seems the successful (or expensive) series are the ones they choose to release weekly, like The Boys going from all at once for season 1 to weekly. Hopefully not as it worked well when we could binge.

Effects · 18-02-2022 10:32am

As I expected, the lead actor isn't very good. He could barely even jump over a 3 foot fence in one scene cause of his muscles 🤣

Overall, the show is kind of on a par with the MacGyver and Magnum reboots.

John_Rambo · 19-02-2022 10:40pm

The Bentley is manky looking.

2smiggy · 21-02-2022 12:03pm

watched it all over the last few days. Really enjoyed it. Have not read the books, but sort of enjoyed the Tom Cruise film versions.

21-02-2022 12:30pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118666959#Comment_118666959

Cruise's first film was a very enjoyable flick but not a Reacher film in look or tone. Never see the point of adapting something and then changing key points of the source.

Why not just create a new IP?

anplaya27 · 21-02-2022 12:36pm

Boring as anything to watch and poor acting imo.

Ash.J.Williams · 21-02-2022 12:42pm

Loved it and sad it’s over

pixelburp · 21-02-2022 12:44pm

The first Jack Reacher film was noteworthy in being written & directed by Christopher McQuarrie ... who then found himself writing and directing the next 4 Mission Impossible movies from 2015 onwards. That series is also produced by Cruise, so without googling I'd reckon the two hit it off, the actor persuading McQuarrie to join him in the MI franchise. So if nothing else, we can thank 2012's Jacker Reacher for putting together a combination that has given us some of the best modern Hollywood action movies.

Whatever about Cruise's physical suitability for the role, the film itself was a very "old-fashioned" detective thriller; with a lo-fi, stripped down car chase that presumably sold McQuarrie to Cruise as an excellent director of action. It was a fantastic chase that made the film worth checking out. The sequel was ... just kinda awful, in a deeply bland fashion. The budget, scale and overall energy felt much lower than the first film's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQintjPovHA

John_Rambo · 21-02-2022 1:21pm

Rave reviews & gold stars on IMDB and Rotten tomatoes. Hardly surprising I guess.

MisterAnarchy · 21-02-2022 3:09pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118619164#Comment_118619164

I was really enjoying the series up until the last episode when it jumped the shark.

The finding Hubble plot was ludicrous and completely unecessary.

Why didnt Reacher just track down Hubble earlier if it was so easy, he'd solve the case in minutes, I suppose he thought he was dead.

Why was Findlay locked up in the police station, why wasn't he killed ?

Why wasnt Reacher killed too, Hubble was hardly a priority.

The bad guys all waiting in the warehouse , did any of them think of ringing Picard to see what was happening.

Speaking of Picard, he just showed up at the end out of nowhere, would he not have rang ahead to say Reacher had escaped.

Then we get a number of lopsided face offs, Picard vs Findlay, Roscoe vs Teale and Reacher vs Kliner Jnr.

Excellent first 7 episodes but a stinker of a finale.

The one thing that bugged me was the one guy that nearly killed him was a scrawny little fella. Reacher knocked out 5 tough prisoners no problem, but that little weedy cousin nearly took him out. They should have had a bigger opponent.

It was ludicrous, Reacher had easily swatted away that same character earlier in the series, that guy would have been no match for him even with the crowbar.

CastorTroy · 23-02-2022 10:34pm

Not familiar with the site but reports of season 2 being mainly based on book 2

https://www.small-screen.co.uk/reacher-season-2-adapt-lee-child-die-trying-book/

pixelburp · 27-02-2022 11:31am

2 episodes to go and this has been a blast. If the books were airport novels, the show has been whatever you could call that TV equivalent (though given you can easily watch Amazon in the airport, maybe Airport TV works too lol). Easy to watch, no fuss, charming. It's total nonsense but enjoyable nonsense.

Very easy to get the tone or structure of something like this dead wrong, but somehow it has sat perfectly in that sweet spot of cliché pot boilers. Never too earnest, never too winking, never too goofy. The town mayor is the closest the show has come to farce, with his big Boss Hogg performance, but he's such a toad it was easy to look beyond it.

27-02-2022 11:57am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118701588#Comment_118701588

The thing with the mayor is that's just Bruce McGill. He's been hired to play that exact southern stereotype on numerous occasions. You see him appear in a southern small town show and it's coming

pixelburp · 27-02-2022 12:11pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118701684#Comment_118701684

That may be, but it has been the one performance that has sometimes floated the wrong side of it all being a cartoon. Everyone else has been on the money.

pixelburp · 12-03-2022 9:24am

Finished this up and man, that was some highly entertaining cheese. Nothing revolutionary, but credit to a show that knew exactly what it was and had the smarts to execute it this well. A dozen other attempts might have got the tone completely wrong but here the wink in the eye never tipped things into irony or farce.

Homelander · 12-03-2022 12:21pm

I gotta say it didn't really work for me. Something like Banshee was the blueprint for ridiculous high-pace antics in a small town, but Reacher was just too absurd even within its own world.

The scene where it lost me altogether was when Reacher casually blocks multiple hits of a crowbar with his forearms.

I wanted to like it, and the first half was genuinely good in the aforementioned Banshee style, but the last few episodes, the finale in particular, were utter craptacular nonsense.