After two films starring Tom Cruise in the title role, Lee Child's popular literary hero Jack Reacher is making the leap to television in Prime Video's Reacher. Starring Alan Ritchson as the unapologetic, hyper-masculine badass, the eight-episode first season adapts Child's 1997 crime novel Killing Floor. A more faithful adaptation than the Cruise-starring films, Reacher is an action-packed approach to the character in an all killer, no filler first season.

In the small town of Margrave, Georgia, U.S. Army combat veteran Jack Reacher is arrested under suspicion of committing a murder that occurred shortly after his arrival. Using his keen deductive skills, military experience, and mountains of muscles, Reacher sets out to learn who is truly responsible for the murder and deliver justice in his typical hard-hitting way to prove his innocence. Reacher soon discovers this small town may be hiding a conspiracy that sets the odds against him -- if Reacher was the sort to put much stock in running the odds.

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Reacher's depiction of its protagonist stays true to the 1997 novel. He's a man of few words and exudes absurd amounts of machismo every time he's on-screen. Ritchson's Reacher is often the smartest man in the room, and he's unafraid of letting everyone else know it. He emasculates anyone who gets in his way with a steely gaze and smirk. However, Ritchson's performance excels when Reacher doesn't have full command of a situation. We've seen countless variations on the no-nonsense, supremely confident antihero before, so the moments when Reacher is on the defensive are the most effective and a welcomed change of pace.

The ensemble cast does a serviceable job, but most of the cast is caught in Ritchson's magnetic orbit -- reacting as foils to this musclebound paradigm of Child's masculine ideal. The major exceptions are Willa Fitzgerald as Margrave police officer Roscoe Conklin and Malcolm Goodwin as chief police detective Oscar Finley. Fitzgerald's Conklin could have been fawning over Reacher's every move, but she challenges him as the season continues while lending a sympathetic ear. Goodwin's Finley is the opposite, fed up with Reacher's macho posturing and frustrated at what has become of his town.

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Where Reacher is going to satisfy more casual fans is with its action set pieces. Virtually every episode in the season has at least one unflinching fight sequence that demonstrates how Reacher can put some hustle behind that muscle. Reacher is more graphically violent than its cinematic counterparts with plenty of broken bones and gouged eyes. Like its protagonist, the fights are short and to the point, often serving as punctuation to an extended story beat.

Jack Reacher is an old-school figure that wanders into whatever small town he wants and fixes whatever problems he finds. He carries no phone, no credit cards, and has all the hallmarks of a paperback pulp hero, just as Child envisioned the character 25 years ago. Reacher delivers Child's vision more effectively than the two film adaptations. While those familiar with the literary source material are unlikely to be surprised by the adaptation, it still brings the hard-hitting thrills and masculinely over-the-top lead to Prime Video in clean-cut style.

Developed for television by Nick Santora, Reacher premieres Feb. 4 on Prime Video.

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