AMAZON'S "REACHER" SEASON 2 DELIVERS SOLID ACTION AND DRAMA!

🎥🎞️Series Review🎞️🎥 - REACHER Season 2 [2024] - R - Amazon Prime - Series developed for TV by Nick Santora, based on the Jack Reacher book series written by Lee Child. Starring Alan Ritchson, Serinda Swan, Maria Sten, Marc Bendavid, Shaun Sipos, and Robert Patrick. Amazon has signed for at least four seasons of REACHER with the third season now in production.

A wanderer after ending his military career in the U.S. Army as a special investigator carrying only the clothes on his back, a credit card and a tooth brush, Jack Reacher [Ritchson] stumbles on a diabolical plot of a multi-million dollar illegal missile sale that questions the loyalty of some of his old Army unit members who once discovered corruption within the military ranks.

THE GOOD - Ritchson delivers another fabulous performance as Jack Reacher in this new series where there are some interesting story arcs and flashbacks on how Reacher put a band of misfits together to build a perfect investigative team of U.S. soldiers. The supporting cast were given plenty of time to develop their characters and make many of them likeable and easy to follow in each new episode. Kudos go out to actress, Serinda Swan, who not only delivers an action centered character, but solid chemistry between her character and Reacher in a sub-romantic part of the series. Location spotting was perfect for the series and the addition of Patrick as a villain was a nice twist to the show.

THE BAD - There are a few subtle slow parts in some episodes and a shoot out that just seemed to stretch too long in a realistic sequence, killing off a side character that IMO was spent too much time developing just to end up in the coroners office. Some female fans of the show may recognize that Ritchson's "total physique" may be more absent in some of the critical love scenes, which I am sure isn't getting the best of reviews.

POST MORTEM - This was an awesome series and one that I was so looking forward to previewing after reading several of the books. The climatic parts of the final episode were filled with so much electrified action scenes that a ton of green screen effects were required, but the directors handled the required CGI brilliantly. This series has distanced itself from the now infamous Tom Cruise movie series and I am sure that [in time] Ritchson's enthusiasm to play the character on the BIG SCREEN will soon catch fire.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ [5 of 5 Stars]

NETFLIX'S "THE NIGHT AGENT" IS AS CLICHE AS CLICHE CAN GET...

🎥🎞️Series Review🎞️🎥 - THE NIGHT AGENT [2023] - R - NetFlix - Created by Shawn Ryan. Based on a book by Matthew Quirk. Produced by James Dodson and Nick Bradley. Stars Gabriel Basso, Luciane Buchanan, Fola Evans-Akingbola, Sara Desjardins, Eve Harlow, and Robert Patrick. This was the third most viewed series on Netflix for four days and was given the green light for a second season right away.

An off duty CIA agent [Basso] discovers a bomb on a train, that was planted by a mysterious man, and he attempts to try and save the occupants, finds himself the top suspect for planting the bomb on the train, even though it as quite clear that someone else planted the bomb[?] - try to wrap your mind on that one. He is kind of demoted stand watch in an isolated room to watch over a phone that is supposed to never ring, when suddenly it does. He is then asked to watch over a young woman [Buchanan] who has ties to the inner government because of her aunt and uncle who were also "watchers of the phone" and murdered by a top spy, or maybe a duo of hitmen[?] Afterwards, he and the young woman are thrust into a diabolical web of intrigue and inner government moles trying to usurp the inner factions of the CIA...kind of.

THE GOOD - ...I seriously can't remember anything about this pile of shit that really was good. I know that I need to be nice and say something, but I honestly can't.

THE BAD - The story, the dialog, the acting, the lack of realistic responses to danger. I never got the feeling that anyone was in serious peril and that there were no serious consequences for any agent actually doing their job. Everything in the series story and plot are transparent and there's nothing new that I haven't ever seen before in another movie. Basso seems to have the same facial expression in every shot, whether he's just walking down the street, being shot at, or being caught in an explosion. The pacing is really bad and, if there are any veterans in this series, everyone acts live compete amateurs in some type of indie web series, even Robert Patrick looks stiff as a CIA Director who plays an aggressive jerk, often testing the loyalties of Besso's character in the series.

POST MORTEM - I totally understand that Besso has some kind of following and that some people have penned him as the next big actor to break out of Netflix and head to the big screen, but his acting in this series is just horrible. I would have had a better time rearranging my sock drawer than watching this bumbling series that had no mystery or anything coherently as noteworthy for ward nominations or requiring a second season.

DOGSHIT! 💩💩💩 [3 of 3 Poops]  

"BACK ROADS" IS ONE GEM OF AN INDIE CLASSIC

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - BACK ROADS [2018] - PG-13 - Peacock - Directed by Alex Pettyfer. Written by Tawni O'Dell and Adrian Lyne; adapted from a novel written by O'Dell entitled "Back Roads." Starring Alex Pettyfer, Jennifer Morrison, Nicola Peltz, Ella Claire Bennett, Robert Patrick, and Juliet Lewis. Budget $7 Million [Est.].

After an abusive father is killed by his wife [Lewis], the eldest son of the family [Pettyfer], who is obviously suffering from mental issues well beyond his control, has to raise his two little sisters [Peltz & Bennett] completely alone in a small backwoods Pennsylvania town. The intensity of his situation of raising a family alone intensifies after he has an affair with a married woman [Morrison], while also discovering the mental and physical damage his father laid upon the entire family. Soon after, the local town sheriff [Patrick] questions the young man about a recent murder in town.

THE GOOD - The director captures a dark, cold emotion in the production that is noteworthy for a first time director and lead actor. The delivery of some dark and morbid secrets are well delivered and captured in moments of soft clarity that totally wasn't expected. The passionate adulterous affair was brilliantly carried through by the acting talents of Morrison, who obviously had very little to work with within the scripted screenplay.

THE BAD - The movie moves slow from one scene to another. At times, there is very little dialog and the director chose to add scenes filled with stock footage, extending scenes and dragging out the lag in the delivery of the emotionless, dryness of the film; which oddly enough added a laziness that defines the small town atmosphere in a dreary, dark plot setting.

POST MORTEM - The film was originally set to star Andrew Garfield, who turned down the role due to scheduling issues with his SPIDER MAN movie, and after several directors passed on leading the production, Pettyfer stepped in and did a marginal job in capturing the right feel for the film and delivering a finished film worth bragging about. This is a good film and one that aspiring directors should watch to learn about how to present a dark mood with dark shades of colors and talented actors under ones control.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫[3.5 of 5 Stars]