Sexy Beast

I was so excited when I happened to stumble upon this series. I love the film and didn't even know that a prequel series was in existence until today. I always wondered what the characters got up to when they were younger.

The actor for Gal is excellent. The accent is a bit off but otherwise he's perfect. The actor for Don channels him well, he's a violent nutter but not yet quite the absolute beast that he ends up becoming. The casting for Aitch seems okay but he looks more like Teddy Bass than the actual bloke playing him. I didn't much like the actor for Teddy, he had the mannerisms down well and the voice but I thought his look was all wrong. The actor looks nothing like Ian Mcshane and I always imagined Teddy being more handsome than that when he was younger (nothing against the man but his very tiny mouth is distracting). I thought the actress playing Deedee was good but they should have given her contacts to get Amanda Redman's bright blue eyes.

I enjoyed the first episode, even the fan service of lines being ripped directly from the film. I think if the writers would have copied just one more line though it would have moved into corny territory.

The cinematography was decent, the acting was intentionally hammy in places but overall good, plenty of swearing and violence with a bit of comedy thrown in and as another reviewer wrote above, it doesn't take itself too seriously.

Recommended if you enjoy British gangster films or crime flicks in general.

I'm really enjoying this series. It's interesting enough for me to wish I could see it all in one go.

The storyline is good and Tamsin Greig is a revelation, playing a totally different character to her usual type.

Deedee is at the heart and soul of this prequel and lights up the screen whenever she appears.

Teddy played by Stephen Moyer is a real nasty piece of work, but believable.

One particular scene with him in at a nightclub was horrific and I personally don't think that it was necessary. The character is menacing enough and I think that was overkill.

On the whole the series is so good I'm now in the process of watching the original movie the series is based on.

You can't really compare the two. Ray Winstone and Ben Kingsley are 2 huge character actors and nobody could be as good as they were.

However I would definitely recommend this series.

Not quite sure why all the negative reviews, this is really quite fun. The main characters are well cast and do provide a good prequel to the Winston and Kingsley double act from the movie.

What this misses to get great marks is that it's not really a prequel in terms of characters. As regards storyline it fits nicely into the movie but the characterisation of, or should I say relationship between Don and Gal does not really set up the movie.

Ben Kingsley was amazing in his menace as a gangster in the original, a real oozing menace in everything he did. Don here gets the mannerisms and does have a good suggestion of menace in the future. Likewise Gal really does match well with Ray Winstone. However together the two don't match in the same way - it's hard to see how Gal can become so scared of Don in the film when here he seems to be on a par with him. Can't quite see the arc that goes from best friends to one being absolutely scared stiff of the other.

All that being said this is really good fun.

The film and its cast were a tough act to follow. The series tries to be as stylish but somehow misses the mark on occasion. It feels a little more low rent than the movie and say other similar series such as The Gentleman. However most of the characters are solid and the performances on the whole are good. With a bit of time you can get over some of its flaws, it doesn't seem to know what period in time it's set in for one. But the story picks up and the characters become more interesting and it ends up a decent romp.

Give it time and it finds its way and your patience is rewarded with a solid gangster story.

It seems to me that these days any show that needs you to think gets a bad rating.

This show is incredible. Great characters, great acting, great plot, it's very intelligent.

Centre of the show is a calm, cool, intelligent nice guy whose a thief. His best friend is a loose cannon whose controlled by a dominant woman.

You've got ruthless killers on both sides of a feud and you have no idea how things are going to pan out. Does our central character get pulled into the feud or, with his intelligence, avoid the conflict.

It's only three episodes in but I just can't wait for the next one.

Anybody calling this show average or worse lacks intelligence in my opinion.