RIP Sir John Hurt

1940 ~ 2017

A Truly Iconic, Legendary, Wonderful, Timeless, Amazing, Never Forgotten Talent

RIP Gorden Kaye

1941 - 2017

Star Trek: Beyond

From Star Wars to Star Trek (and no, do not ask me to say which one is best - I can never answer that) and whilst I didn't visit the cinema for this one, I recently caught up via DVD with the 3rd film of the new, revamped 21st century Star Trek (following J.J Abraham's Star Trek of 2009, and Star Trek Into Darkness of 2013 - see BLOG ARCHIVE for my review). So, here is my brief take.
Though there was no J.J Abraham's in the director's chair this time (as he was probably busy defecting toward Star Wars at the time) he did Executive Produce, with Justin Lin at the helm and a script written by Scotty himself, Simon Pegg.
And broadly speaking, I feel this third outing gave us more of the same, and that is probably no bad thing. We got an evolution sure in terms of new plot, and occasionally in terms of character - but mostly it was still a modern classic of a Star Trek romp.

In fact, possibly all too predictably, there were some of the new elements I did not really take to. I thought the main antagonistic elements of this new story were a bit thin in terms of plausibility and indeed impact. The idea of a wormhole leading to a planet ruled by former Starfleet personnel who had become mutated and devolved and unspeakably evil over time, and who commanded a "sentient space swarm" and sought to devour the universe just did not really sit well with me. Even for Star Trek, it did just seem a bit too far-fetched; no doubt it made for some great action and visually stunning scenes, but in terms of a plot device for carrying threat, to me it just didn't work (possibly because I'm comparing too much to the glory that was Benedict Cumberbatch as Khan in the previous film).
Heading this new threat as the main villain of the piece, was new addition Idris Elba. Now do not get me wrong, I like many freely acknowledge that Idris Elba is a great acting talent, but I feel they robbed him of some of his impact in covering him with prosthetics, and muffling and distorting his voice. His character Krall's villainous backstory and impact was lacking already for me as I've said, so robbing, or at least muting the core charisma and impetus of the actor behind him seemed like a bad move to me - I certainly found Idris Elba to be at his best during parts of the film when he looked and sounded like Idris Elba, not Krall; at that point he owned the screen as he often does, but sadly most of the time as a true Star Trek villain he just did not have the evil impact for me.

Anyway, new villainous elements falling flat aside - most of the elements we have now come to know and love from this new Star Trek franchise were present and correct, and with them I could not find much fault. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto as Kirk and Spock were great as per, as were Zoe Saldana as Uhura and interestingly Karl Urban as Bones distinguished himself a tad more too. You could tell Simon Pegg was being a tad narcissistic in giving Scotty a bit more spotlight but he carried it off well, and importantly it was wonderfully touching and joyous to see Star Trek say goodbye to an utter legend in marking the passing of Leonard Nimoy as Spock Prime, and tragically we got to see Anton Yelchin own the character of Pavel Chekov for the final time.

So, good enough story, great action, stunning music, a few light-hearted moments, and plenty of those wonderful Trek elements we have come to expect. Not the most mind-blowing film in the Star Trek saga but certainly not the worst, and though it will sadly be without a few key players - I am looking forward to the next outing, if and when it beams onto our viewing screens.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Ah...now...quite a big one...for anyone who even hopes to consider themselves a Star Wars fan at least...the first stand-alone spin-off from the Star Wars universe we know so well...this is it...Rogue One. Having seen that there are quite a few films currently out that I fancy watching, I saw this one a few days ago and unlike some fans I was not building up to seeing it hoping against hope that it would not cast a horrific slur on the Lucas legacy, and whilst unlike some other fans, my world was not shaken after having seen it; I was overall quite pleasantly surprised.

Firstly, some important and marked differences and novelties. By and large - this is an all new story (running parallel/just leading up to the original Star Wars saga of the 70s) with all new characters (with a few scattered but welcome familiar cameos which we'll come onto later). All new characters, mostly all new actors and all new stories. And no Jedi...

That was one of the most negative points for me, leading up to and seeing this film, and it hasn't changed. To me Star Wars needs at least a healthy smattering of the Jedi, and whilst we got a brief injection of red lightsaber-wielding Sith (in the form of a certain fellow in an ominous black mask and cape) other than that we did not get another sniff of any lightsabers or The Force, flowing robes, or kick ass sci-fi sword fights. I know that this was a deliberate move, and I know the story just about works without this element, but I still missed it, and thus the film did go down in my estimations, before it really began.

However, what we did get was still all the classic elements of Star Wars that audiences fell in love with decades ago, drawn back, revamped and stripped down to bare essential in a sense, then given a whole new story and set of characters to sprinkle on top in a bid to make it fresh. But be advised, if you haven't seen any of the other Star Wars films; if you are a novice - DO NOT start with this one. There is still such an influx of mythology, insider knowledge, Easter Eggs and in-jokes that you do need to know your stuff, at least to a certain extent, and thus enjoy.

So, we lead with Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso, daughter of the man behind the infamous Death Star. She is initially a reluctant fighter with the Rebellion but the plot flows through and culminates with the idea of her (joined by a small band of others) trying to find and capture the original plans for the Empire's planet killer, in order to set up for the events of 1977's A New Hope, where eventually said planet killer was destroyed suspiciously easily (thanks to a fault placed in the design of the weapon by Jyn Erso's father Galen -played by Mads Mikkelsen).

Now, Star Wars aficionados will know of course, that this problem of the "easily destructible Death Star" has plagued the minds of fans for years - for the climax of the original that first enamoured us to this world, it sure did seem pretty easy for the reactor core to blow...

Well, in essence this film attempts to answer that, or at least shore up the action with a bit more theory. And it basically attempts to do that for 133 minutes. Do not get me wrong, I am sort of glad they did it, and mostly pleased with how they did it, but that is my second major gripe with this film - no matter what positive points it has, it does not lose that whiff of afterthought I'm afraid. It is a tad sad, as I could clearly see the effort that had been made throughout to make a sure, honest, standalone film. But stripped down to its bones, this film still seems like the idea of some irate producer or writer (or probably several of them) who had got sick and tired of die-hard, passionate yet excessive fans questioning just why that bloody Death Star blew up so easily, and had decided to make a movie to try and shut them up.

Add to that the nagging sense at the back of your mind that this film, if you're being cynical, is surely just another ploy by Disney and Lucasfilm to get you to part with your money whilst waiting for the newest "canon" film in the form of the yet to arrive Episode VIII, and the overtones and less than positive running themes of this film do not bode well.

I'm afraid this idea of a Death Star saga/Star Wars stop-gap drips down into the cast too. Oh in terms of names, ability and performances, in many cases it is stellar. Felicity Jones is powerful, vulnerable and watchable as the lead, the great Forest Whitaker plays an eccentric but brilliant character in Saw Gerrera, Danny Yen is impressive and cool as the nearest we get to a Jedi, Alan Tudyk as new droid K-2SO is inspired, and Ben Mendelsohn as the chief villain is compelling and evil enough to match any Star Wars antagonist.

There are some poor pieces of casting/performances in my view too. Whilst he clearly had the panache and presence on screen, I sadly just did not believe in Mads Mikkelsen too much during his scenes, and Riz Ahmed as the Imperial pilot turned good just came across as so clichéd to me and not that believable too. Yet the most infuriating and disappointing cast member for me by far and away was Diego Luna as Cassian Andor, the supposed male lead of the piece. Disgustingly self-absorbed, verging from woefully wooden, more robotic than the droids on screen, to swanning about with a horrible swagger that he does not deserve - his was a disaster of a casting selection and subsequent performance to my mind.

Yet good cast or not, brilliant or bloody awful, by the end of the film almost every character newly introduced into this film had the same problem - they all seemed expendable, indeed pretty much all of them had expired (some of their demises feeling quite rushed and last minute).

Now I know that on the one hand, this is supposed to intensify the drama and sadness that the crew of the Rogue One all perished in a last, incredibly valiant, against-the-odds battle of resistance against the Empire, and yes I do feel that - the amount of emotion you do get to invest in a handful of these characters is certainly amped up when you see them heroically perish.

Yet again, I just feel that not having any of your main characters survive past the credits does seem like, yes it is all wrapped up in one stand-alone flick, yet to me it also shows that you didn't really have that much faith in them to begin with; especially not compared to other Star Wars characters (a la Solo, Kenobi, Yoda and the Skywalkers) that have thrilled and held our interest for decades.

Also of course, it was not just a crop of new faces - as said we had a heavy influx of old faces. Now this again suggests to me that the new characters (even if they were all perfectly performed, which sadly they weren't) were not deemed enough to carry this film through. And in fact, it was seeing some familiar faces that elevated and perhaps saved this film from more negative vibes, for me and I'm sure for other fans and audiences too.

So, who returned with a bang? Well - the biggest triumphant return was everyone's favourite Jedi corrupted by the Dark Side - yes Darth Vader was back and I like everyone else jumped for joy. The cape, the mask, the breathing, the wonderful voice of the wonderful James Earl Jones, and a KILLER lightsaber rampage scene and seeing Vader make a return was damn near perfect.

We also got a few bit cameos of C-3P0, R2D2, and the likes of Bail Organa and Mon Mothma respectively, which while brief were very welcome all the same.

We also were witness to two sadly deceased actors and characters being resurrected, and here I would briefly like to weigh in on this whole digital resurrection controversy that has stemmed from this film at this point. I agree with quite a few - they shouldn't of done it, they could have got away with not doing it, by and large it was unnecessary. But they did do it, twice...and in my opinion one hit, and one big miss.

It was surprising to see the late great Peter Cushing brought back as Grand Moff Tarkin, and to see him quite heavily used. But the likeness was so perfect (if just about discernible as not real) that it just about worked, and eventually you enjoyed seeing Tarkin aboard the Death Star once more.

To me what did not work, which jarred horribly, and what almost killed the mood right in the final seconds of the film, was a young likeness of Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia - uttering one single word - "Hope" before the credits rolled. As Cushing's likeness was so realistic, it amazes me how Fisher's looked so plastic and animatronic. What's more (and this may have something to do with Fisher's recent tragic passing) to see a young Leia, or such a poor Leia likeness just slapped before the audience's eyes right at the end of the film just seemed to me a tad tacky, unnecessary and vulgar, and I'm afraid it did little to improve the overall tone and feel of the film.

So, a good idea I suppose, an interesting concept, but there is a lot not to like in my view with regards to Rogue One. And yet...and yet...if someone were to ask me - "is it a proper Star Wars film?" I would assuredly say yes.

OK there are a lot of things left to be desired, there are things you wish they'd added, and there are things you wish had never crossed their minds. But as I said what this film does is force us back to the roots of Star Wars, and once you can get your head around that, you find what they have done well, they've done very well. Inexplicably you do get a sense of the epic space opera Star Wars started out as, and what it was always meant to be. There are stunning pieces of music, brilliant visuals, enough good characters brought to life by enough good acting, and enough great moments that just about bring a huge smile to your face and render you with no possible alternative than to say - "yes! I just watched STAR WARS!"

RIP Clare Hollingworth

1911 - 2017

End of Year TV roundup

Now 2016 is over, I just thought I'd round up with a few very brief words on a few bits of telly I've yet to review from throughout the year...

THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF 2016

*Sniff...sniff*...well that is it...BBC Bake Off is no more...and the last series was quite a lovely way, as ever to go out on. Yes we were all giving Paul Hollywood the evil looks through our sets for being the money-grabbing sell-out he is (shock horror) and we were also in turn savouring every look, remark and gesture of the divine Mary Berry, as well as the splendid hilarity of Mel and Sue. And yes, I for one was just trying to soak up all the remnants Bake Off had to offer, as it is of course now a full gone conclusion that it will never be the same (possibly not even worth watching) when it moves to Channel 4.

Naturally there was the final crop of contestants, including the forever chilled Selasi, and of course winner Candice who I quite liked too. But really, 2016 was all about saying a heartfelt, gutting yet fond farewell to Bake Off, and after two slightly flat but warming Christmas Specials, and a final simple, dignified and touching Thank You montage...that is exactly what we as a telly nation did.

THE MUSKETEERS - SERIES 3

Also earlier in the year we said goodbye to another series, and messrs d'Artagnan, Athos, Porthos and Aramis as the BBC's The Musketeers bowed out after 3 seasons. 

Again, as with Bake Off, to me this was about savouring the moment. As I've said before when reviewing this show (see BLOG ARCHIVE) it is not perfect at all in my opinion, but still good, old-fashioned, swash-buckling escapism. Yet I feel there was some attempted intensity in the drama, and a bit more forced pathos as things were winding up that didn't quite ring true which slightly marred the last hurrah, but ultimately I'm glad (most of) the main characters got a relatively happy ending, and just at the last minute the series was finished into what most would consider a proper conclusion, yet I for one thought at least one more season could have been possible, and broadly speaking I'll be sad to see this one go.

ROVERS

Simple, light-hearted, tending slightly toward the crass and vulgar at times, Rovers was one of Sky One's new ventures in the summer, centring around a struggling local league football club, and the characters it attracts as fans.
Broadly speaking I enjoyed it; Diane Morgan and the brilliant Steve Spiers being my favourite casting highlights; I think sadly Sue Johnston fell a tad flat and Craig Cash (whilst directing and executing a good format) did seem to unjustly hog the limelight a bit.
Still, a good simple sitcom that made me chuckle.

Marcella

Also making a debut was the glorious Anna Friel as the titular Marcella.

Overall, I didn't feel this series differentiated itself too much from most other hopeful breakthrough crime/cop shows, however it did have enough of a twist, enough of an injection of grit, high-pace, drama and a powerful turn from the ever-watchable Anna Friel to compel me to watch (and to apparently garner another future series).

Undercover

Whilst Marcella made up ITV's new crime drama offerings, over on the other channel, Undercover made up the BBC's.

Now I am fully aware that Sophie Okonedo is a very accomplished, talented actress; I have seen her in various other things which I enjoyed.

However, hers in Undercover is the most pithy, pathetically arrogant, over-assuming, overly-dramatic, self-centred, self-promoting, self-indulgent, pointless "performance" I have seen on telly in a long time. I can see the idea in giving her such a powerful, heavy role in such a powerful piece, but in my opinion she just does not do it justice at all, in pretty much any of it. And the fact that the people behind Undercover seemed to set the whole show up around Okonedo and her character as the be all and end all had me going from intrigued at an interesting undercover/police corruption concept to seething every time I saw her on screen (particularly her apparent "seizure" moments) and hoping her character would be quickly killed off (which she wasn't).

She ruined the whole programme for me, yet the only saving grace was Adrian Lester, the on screen husband/undercover cop. For all the mire and self-absorbed misery Okonedo inflicted on me as a viewer, Adrian Lester managed to deliver a believable, relatively understated and enjoyable performance to match.

Annoyingly they seemed to be setting this up for another series. Rest assured I will not be watching.

The Durrells

Fun, liberating, hilarious, compelling, very British yet intrinsically Greek, pure escapism, ITV's The Durrells (based on the autobiographical writings of renowned naturalist Gerald Durrell) tells the story of the noble, fun, kind but also ditsy, struggling and eccentric Durrell family who up sticks from Bournemouth and move unsuspectingly to Corfu.

Lunacy and chaos of course ensues, and though the script and plot developments are not the most original or indeed gripping you will ever see, this series is done so well, and the results are so charming that it easily holds you from beginning to end.

The cast and Durrell unit is led by Keeley Hawes, who manages to portray a character of quintessential period English charm, woefully gung-ho attitude and sass, sexy alluring singleton, and utterly charming matriarch all in one. Truly to my mind, this is the best programme I've seen Keeley Hawes in.

Other casting highlights for me include two of the Durrell children - Daisy Waterstone as wayward Margo, whose lack of grip on the realities and social etiquette of life oddly does not get boring, and Milo Parker, the young actor who has already carved out a very distinguished career for himself (see my review of him in Mr. Holmes in the BLOG ARCHIVE for more) and is going from strength to strength, as evidenced by his superb portrayal throughout as a young Gerald Durrell.

But really, this series strives to provide a bit of something for everyone, and rare though it is, I think by and large they have indeed succeeded, and I am greatly looking forward to the second outing when it arrives in 2017.

PERIOD DRAMA DOUBLE

Victoria

Fresh from leaving the TARDIS and Peter Capaldi as we bid farewell to her as Clara in Doctor Who, Jenna Coleman stormed into the lead role in ITV's Victoria, which was not only widely acknowledged as a great period drama focusing on the iconic queen's early life, but the programme also proved to be one of the TV highlights of the year.

And quite simply, Jenna Coleman is Victoria. She is brilliant; regal, powerful, beautiful, sexy, sassy, commanding, exuding chemistry opposite any other character or all on her own. She is quite rightly the star of the show. What's more, she is backed up by some stellar performances, including that of Tom Hughes as the queen's husband Prince Albert, and Rufus Sewell who totally and perfectly owns every second as Victoria's favoured Prime Minister Lord Melbourne.
Truly, the cast is brilliant. Though a few performances fell flat for me, including that of Victoria's mother played by Catherine Flemming who I just found annoying quite quickly, and sadly Peter Firth as the  "villainous" Duke of Cumberland who just seemed very wooden to me in his portrayal of a clichéd German rival to the throne.
However all in all, the casting is superb, and the performances match, even down to the serving roles brought to life by the delightful Eve Myles and Adrian Schiller.

Though the pace of the plot got a tad laboured at times, overall I found Victoria to be a barnstorming brilliant piece, packed with intrigue, superb acting and the end result was a series that captivated, and one which I am not at all surprised has been renewed well into 2017.

Poldark - Series 2

Going toe-toe with ITV's Victoria in the ratings battle, was the second outing of everyone's favourite period Cornish miner/brooding soldier/struggling aristocrat/hapless grass-cutter. Yes, Poldark was back. I enjoyed series one (see BLOG ARCHIVE) and broadly speaking I found series two to give us more of the same.
Oh yes there was the odd new character injection, my particular favourite being John Nettles, and the odd tragic, climactic and at times controversial influx into the plot, such as the actually very sad demise of Francis Poldark, and that now debatable 'yes/no rape/passionate' interaction between Ross Poldark and his first love Elizabeth,

However in most senses, there was the same level of period touches, enough of a sense of consistent drama, the same characters we know and love, and love to hate, and a whole lot of mining, pistols at dawn and riding around coastal cliffs on horseback.
As in series one, performance highlights for me included Ruby Bentall as Verity, Eleanor Tomlinson as Demelza Poldark, who I felt dealt with her character's climactic and at times volatile series arc very well, and of course the brilliant Caroline Blakiston as the superb Aunt Agatha (if nothing else, the series is worth watching just for her reactions, one-liners or any scene she's in!).

I have no doubt that Poldark's success will continue to rise, and overall I do not begrudge it that. It is very well done, not too fast and not too slow, period drama escapism .

NATIONAL TREASURE

Based on Operation Yewtree, National Treasure was the incredibly hard-hitting, solidly gritty, and wistfully intricate Channel 4 four-part drama, detailing the series of events that leads Robbie Coltrane's fictional television actor and comedian Paul Finchley (though many real-life parallels can easily be surmised, and are often heavily referenced) being arrested and charged for a series of sexual assaults, and the events that follow.

Obviously incredibly relevant, both in relation to the last few years and in terms of issues arising still today, I found National Treasure to be as I say incredibly powerful, very dark (though not really straying out of the stylised subtlety it quickly adopts) and all-in-all very well performed. To me, it is one of those shows you cannot fully sit back and enjoy, because it is so good at realistically portraying the tough, brutal yet again very relevant subject matter at its centre, but I was impressed with how easily the series managed to establish a knack of always looking at most, if not all the individual issues and imagined "scenarios" from every angle. There is pathos on all fronts; the writing and performances are so nuanced, individual and believable that the true motives and actions of each character keep you guessing right until the very end - reaching one simple answer to: guilty or not guilty? I always appreciate it when fictional dramas incorporate 'real-life' figures and institutions, and this series doing just that (from Frank Skinner to Victoria Derbyshire, from the offices of Channel 4 and the BBC to Alan Carr) only helps to make the whole thing very real.

In terms of performance, I didn't really spot a particularly bad one, which is just as well as a concept like this needs strong actors to hammer it home in the right way, and that is just what we got. Whilst I found Robbie Coltrane's portrayal of Paul Finchley to be a tad self-absorbed at times, by and large he inhabited the role to a tee. And he was backed up by staunchly superb performances by some superb acting talents, such as Tim McInnery, the ever-brilliant Julie Walters, and a really surprising yet mind-blowing performance for me from the incredible Andrea Riseborough.

Yes of course, the subject matter is barely palatable, but I feel shows like this are important, and National Treasure deals with the matters at hand in a very believable, powerful, and above all just the right way. It keeps you guessing and keeps you hooked, and I think Channel 4 at the end of the day is to be commended for it.

MAIGRET'S Dead Man

Back in March 2016, ITV teased us with the unveiling of the superb Rowan Atkinson as Jules Maigret, in a new revamp of the French detective classic. On Christmas Day 2016, they gave us the last of "series one" with a second episode: Maigret's Dead Man,
In reviewing episode one (again, see the BLOG ARCHIVE) I said that whilst Rowan Atkinson was surely strong enough to carry what was occasionally a floundering script, concept and executed show, there was surely potential for a few more.
Well with the first of "a few more" the stakes and the quality I found went up a degree or two.

Make no mistake, I still believe that Maigret, the character and the programme, was and still is carried and indeed enhanced no end by the delightful Rowan Atkinson. Yet the more lavish and even enchanting introductory concept and guest cast of episode one is now replaced in the second outing with an equally good cast, but a slightly darker, more brutal script and story, which for what is still essentially a crime drama I feel actually worked better in all areas concerned.

And yet again, Rowan Atkinson was at the centre of it all, and a newer, faster-paced and darker story just gave the great man slightly greater scope with which to play with different emotions, slightly different sides to Maigret, and a few more ways to hold audiences.

Again I repeat what I said in April, this series is still in its infancy and should not rush development too much...but with a steady increase of quality in script and story execution as was shown between episodes one and two, and of course with Rowan Atkinson at the helm, I feel Maigret still has the potential to entertain future watchers yet.

RIP John Berger

1926-2017