Reacher (2022) - Season 1 (1 Viewer)

[SamT]

http://www.darkhorizons.com/jack-reacher-ditching-films-for-tv-series/

Lee Child, who has penned the two dozen or so Reacher novels to date, tells BBC Radio that he just signed a deal last week to make a Jack Reacher TV series for a streaming service. He then discusses one big change from the films, saying the title character of the series will be a much closer approximation of the book character who is very tall, blond and built like a tank

... Cruise, for all his talent, didn’t have that physicality. So what I’ve decided to do is – there won’t be any more movies with Tom Cruise.

 

[Malcolm R]

Given the "meh" response to the last film (which grossed $50m less worldwide than the first film), I doubt there were any more films coming anyway, so I don't think this was really Lee Child's decision. And unless Tom Cruise had already agreed to star in the TV series (which seems unlikely), they're not really "replacing" him.

I'm not really a TC fan, and have said the same thing in the past about his size relative to the Jack Reacher character, but this seems like a rather insulting press release.

 

[tempest21]

I don't believe for a minute that they have ditched movies for a television series. But, if they are, I can see why. The Jack Reacher films, I tried to sit through both of them and I lost my interest. I understand there is a lot of people who like the films but they were just boring to watch. I'm not ditching on Tom Cruise but the films just lost my attention about 20 minutes into each film. I found John Wick to be a much better film series as the first movie hits the ground running.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

I think the first Jack Reacher film was excellent (given a big boost by being written and directed by Christopher McQuarrie), with a strong plot and tense, gripping action scenes. Despite the size discrepancy, I thought Cruise brought more of a bruiser tough guy persona to it than usual.

The second one was a real come-down...not bad, per se, but with a low-wattage supporting cast and a very straightforward narrative, which played more like a TV movie. Very average. It didn't help that they picked one of the weaker Reacher novels to adapt.

A little sad (though not surprised) if this means the end of the film series...would have liked to see them course-correct. But Reacher might be a better fit as a TV series...especially if they can cast the character well.

 

[Race Bannon]

First one was good, second one -- they chose one of the weaker books. The story was just boring.

The problem was not Tom Cruise.

Jack Reacher has been demoted to to streaming, and Lee Child is trying to act like Tom Cruise was the problem? Tom Cruise playing Jack Reacher was a huge lift to the promotion of the character.

I'd rather have a great screen presence and actor than a 6'5" actor (cast for that reason). I think it's a mistake to hem themselves in on the physicality.

But when I read a book, I picture Reacher as Robert Shaw in From Russia with Love. According to iMDB, Robert Shaw was only 5'10", but they managed to make him seem like Dolph Lundgren in that movie.

 

[George_W_K]

Loved the first movie, disappointed in the second. I liked the Jack Ryan series on Amazon, so I can see a Jack Reacher series being done well.

 

[Malcolm R]

Finally, finally, we have an actor playing Jack Reacher who actually resembles the character's description:

Reacher premieres on February 4, 2022.

https://deadline.com/2021/12/reache...-alan-ritchson-amazon-prime-video-1234883655/

 

[SamT]

 

[joshEH]

Hmmm. The dialogue is lifted from the books, OK fight-scenes, but there's something off about the actor. Lee Child's Reacher wouldn't do that dumb thing with the beer bottle. But I guess they're trying to reach a wider audience.

 

[Malcolm R]

He seems younger than I've pictured the character while reading.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Saw a trailer during the Thursday Night Football game. My initial reaction was that now we had an actor who was more physically appropriate for the role in this iteration. ( I enjoyed the first Jack Reacher film well enough, but just never pictured an actor of Cruise's size in the role. Shallow? Maybe, but it always lessened the credibility of the film for me. )

I'll give the series a try. I enjoyed Shooter while it was on USA, so that is sort of the benchmark I am putting on the new series.

- Walter.

 

[Matt Hough]

I liked Alan as Aquaman on Smallville, so I will watch this series.

 

[SamT]

This guy can play Hulk.

 

[Walter Kittel]

I liked Alan as Aquaman on Smallville, so I will watch this series.

I had forgotten that Ritchson played Aquaman on Smallville. I would agree that his character on that series was enjoyable and added to the show. His character made very infrequent appearances, but I always liked his episodes.

- Walter.

 

[joshEH]

I mean, I agree about Cruise's charisma going a long way to make up for his physical attributes, but I did kind of laugh out loud in the first movie when he gets framed for murdering the cute waitress, and the justification the cops have for bringing him in is, "Can you think of anyone who can kill a person with one punch?" Which is a line that really only applies to the brick-shithouse Reacher of the books.

Cruise's Reacher is tactical and agile and goes for the soft-spots and hits more than he gets hit, while the deal with book-Reacher is that, yeah, he's tactical, but he also basically has arms like sledgehammers and doesn't have to hit anyone more than once to put them down, and can shrug off punches from pretty much anyone.

(Not to mention that the trailer already has 100 times more sex than either of the Cruise-movies. I swear, sometimes the books get near-pornographic at times. Including the story they're adapting first for this show.)

 

[Jeff Flugel]

New clip:



As much as I love the first Tom Cruise film, this guy certainly seems more true to the book Reacher, at least physically. Looking forward to this. Premieres this Friday, Feb. 4th on Prime.

 

[John Sparks]

When I read the novels, I would occasionally look at the back cover at Lee Childs to see what Reacher looked like.

Wow, now this show really shows what Reacher looks like. Watched the first two episodes and am hooked...especially the wife.

This is a slam dunk hit, IMHO.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

This is a slam dunk hit, IMHO.

Oh, yeah, two episodes in and feel the same. Great stuff, and Richson is really nailing the part of Reacher. Very pleased so far.

 

[Walter Kittel]

Viewed the first episode earlier today and it was pretty enjoyable. It isn't terrible original, you've seen a lot of these elements before, but it was effective. The overall pace of the first episode was crisp and the direction felt pretty tight. I thought most of the casting worked well and Richson did a fine job as the lead. His delivery, particularly of the dialog associated with the action segments, was effective in a blunt, no-nonsense sort of way.

As expected, the fight choreography was well executed. The big boy can definitely take care of himself.

- Walter.

 

[Matt Hough]

Watched the first one this afternoon, and I thought it was excellent. Exactly what I had envisioned Reacher to be. Am looking forward to completing the first season over the next several days.