Criticism of The Final List, the Prime Video series in which Chris Pratt plays Navy SEAL James Reece

James Reece could pass for the little brother of Jack Ryan or Jack Reacher. The commander of SEAL Team 7 has starred in a number of Jack Carr novels, just as Ryan became the star character of Tom Clancy and Reacher stars in a score of Lee Child books.

And like his two companions, Reece receives a miniseries adaptation on Prime Video. Jack Ryan, starring John Krasinski was released in 2018, Reacher did the same just a few months ago, with Alan Ritchson in the lead. Isn’t it too early for a similar series?

It is something that I did not even consider, because I have weakness for this kind of politics-fiction. But anyone who isn’t a fan of the genre will get that feeling.

maybe they are too many men torn between saving the world and reclaiming their private lives. Too many veterans affected by the loss of a comrade, too many conspiracies within the military government. The similarities between the three series are evident.

Now, for people like us to sleep soundly at home, people like Reece have to take action.

It’s time to follow their lead with our The Final List reviewan 8-part miniseries available on Prime Video since last July 1.

More than a military fiction

Once again we find ourselves before a “one-man army” that stars in a “thriller” with pretensions. What do I mean? It seems that throughout the series, The final list struggles to move away from a typical revenge story to enter the criminal investigation.

In the background, the argument also revolves around the effects of post-traumatic stress caused by exposure to combat and even the experiments carried out with “human guinea pigs” by large corporations.

Sometimes the idea works, but most of the time we feel that these intrigues slow down the pace. If we eliminate the sequences in which Reece has a “flashback” – we are not going to spoil the plot – or rubs his eyes to try to regain concentration, the duration of the series could be cut in half.

It makes little sense to confront the story of a SEAL, nature’s most effective killing machine, so that you spend most of your time doing research tasks. The novel has barely 400 pages and is full of action, and as you can imagine, moving this argument to 8 hours of footage leaves it full of dead time.

But not all is lost. Jack Carr, the author of the original works, knows what he is talking about. In addition to being a bestselling author, he is a SEAL veteran.and acted as a platoon leader – just like Reece – and as a sniper in different campaigns in the Middle East.

It is not just a curiosity. The series is able to reflect the arrogance of these men, the camaraderie in the body, and of course, their effectiveness in combat. (although there are not too many war sequences). It is noted that there is an interesting starting material.

Contrary to what happened to us in the Trigger Point review, we did notice that special attention has been paid to insertion tacticsthe weapons and equipment used by these units in actual operations.

We’re not talking about “gun porn”, but we do find interesting details here and there that help give the character credibility; from the unit decorations and patches to the small armory he keeps in his shed.

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It is nice to see that advanced reloading tactics are used, “double tap” to take down enemies or that movement and communication protocols are followed. Although all this is not enough to “lift” the series.

As for the distribution, Chris Pratt (Jurassic World Dominion, Guardians of the Galaxy) is very solvent both in the action sequencesin which he asserts his physique and good training in handling weapons, as in the most dramatic sequences.

However, we have the feeling that the characters around him are wasted. Only Katie (a journalist played by Constance Wu) gets any depth.

In particular it is a pity that the most political part, which falls on Jeanne Tripplehorn (Basic Instinct) is so diffuse.

Is it worth watching The Final List?

Even being fans of the genre, we have come across a failed series. The same feeling that Reacher or the movie Without Remorse left us, based on a work by Clancy and also on Prime Video.

The production has a great level, the action sequences are forceful and Chris Pratt lives up to the characterbut it seems adapted “with complexes”, as if it were trying to be something much deeper than the original story.

This works against him, and as the series progresses, the “empty” moments that abound between the action parts become apparent. In fact, they get the viewer to end up bored, without at any time getting hooked on the plot.

All in all, The Final List has some very intense and well-shot moments, and lays the groundwork for us to see Reece again in a second season, hopefully with a clearer goal.