Brad Nelson
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עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Reacher
Apr 3, 2022 16:50:08 GMT -8
Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 3, 2022 16:50:08 GMT -8
Reacher is a currently-running original from Amazon Prime. My brother recommended this to me. I just finished the first episode. It did not suck. The Schwarzeneggeresque (mixed with dollops of Dirty Harry) Alan Ritchson plays Jack Reacher. Reacher is a Rambo-like character with lots of special military skills and experience. He goes to a small town ostensibly to search out one of his blues favorites. He gets caught up in something. This is a show that could easily simply recycle itself in each episode. Although the first one was acceptable, I wonder if this format and these characters can have legs. What it isn't (so far) is annoyingly stupid. And it doesn't appear to have its sites on being "woke" or politically correct. This is definitely an unfolding plot-based show so I won't give much away, although there really isn't much to give away through this first episode. We know something is going on, we just don't know who or what. But the situation is such that the viewer can expect that any of the locals is bought and paid for by the local tycoon businessman. Stay tuned.
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Post by kungfuzu on Apr 3, 2022 17:24:06 GMT -8
If this follows the chronology of the book series, then this is when Reacher walks into a small Georgia town and ends up tangling with a guy who has a big warehouse full of something he shouldn't. Reacher queers his plans in a spectacular way. Here is a short video, apparently, of the first episode. At least the actor has the correct physical qualities to play Reacher who is supposed to be 6'5" and about 240-250lbs if muscle, as I recall. I also like the guy's stare. I believe that fits the character. This video also is true to the mood of a scene in one of the Reacher books. Maybe the first one as well. The sheriff (mistakenly ) puts him in a bad part of the jail in the hope that he will be murdered over night. You can see that Reacher has other plans.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
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Post by Brad Nelson on Apr 3, 2022 17:38:09 GMT -8
One of the reviews I read said that (at least in this first season), it is following the first book reasonably faithfully.
Then thank the Gods of cinema that he wasn't re-cast as a 130 lb. Keira Knightley chick. This guy is a big boy. And he doesn't turn the other cheek. There's something satisfying about a guy beating the living shit out of punks.
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Post by artraveler on Apr 4, 2022 7:00:08 GMT -8
I recently watched the entire series. For the most part I found it to be generally ok but with a lot of potential to develop the character. I can remember reading one of the books several years ago, I think I bought it at an airport, and found the read enjoyable. On the whole I would say the series is not great, but has lots of room to improve.
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Brad Nelson
Administrator
עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶת־ הַתְּשׁוּעָ֥ה הַגְּדֹלָ֖ה הַזֹּ֑את
Posts: 11,045
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Post by Brad Nelson on May 1, 2022 7:58:51 GMT -8
I've watched through episode 6 of season 1. We need to grade on a curve because there just isn't much out there being made right now that is any good.
The good news: This is a cut above the intellectual and emotional development of your typical Marvel comic movie. The characters are generally well-defined, likable, and free of "wokeness," although the shrimpy female cop, Rocoe, has all the makings of the typical ass-kicking female.
Still, it works because we might imagine a tenacious female cop who punches above her weight. Most importantly, the writing of these characters is good enough that they are not spouting tired cliches every other line which reduces the characters to mere puppets for some idiot screenwriter's bland and unrealistic dialogue. Like them or not, the main trio of characters do seem like real people that you might meet.
Except for Reacher, who is supposed to be a bit larger than life and spout some Schwarzeneggeresque one-liners.
The real problem with this series is the credibility factor. The bad guys are so bad, we can expect that they would have taken out our three protagonists in the first three minutes. Not that they don't try now and again. But the whole scenario lacks much realism. There are a whole bunch of people being killed and it doesn't seem to attract much attention. This many deaths surely would have attracted the attention of the army at the very least. You might excuse this somewhat because the whole town is sort of the Stepford Wives of the South. The small town they are in has apparently been bought and paid for by Kliner money.
But in this case, the plot is something that is a vehicle for the characters instead of the other way around. It's not very deep or believable and maybe doesn't have to be for a throw-away series like this.
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