Duchess

This movie is not that bad as some reviewers say. To start, the voice over of the main character (Duchess) is great, I like that always, gives a bit of background and story telling idea. The famous trick that the beginning scene is a teaser and then back to how it all started, makes you immediately curious. It's fast paced, maybe a bit too long though, never boring. Great performance of. Charlotte Kirk, perfectly casted. Less good in my opinion is the extreme violence showed, not functional and not to my taste. The humor is great, compensates this a bit, the story is not intended to be taken too seriously. The British accents are funny on themselves. All in all worth watching when you expectations are not too high.

Earlier this month, I had binge through all of Neil Marshall's filmography and it was a fun experience for the most part. Now, I just finished watching his latest movie, Duchess (2024) and it was very mediocre.

Positives for Duchess (2024): Charlotte Kirk gives a good performance as the titular character in this movie. There are spots to where the B-Action side of this movie can be fun. And finally, the action sequences in this movie are good.

Negatives for Duchess (2024): The movie's premise is all that interesting to begin with. There are some noticeably bad performances from the other actors. And finally, the movie's runtime is dragged out way too long.

Overall, Duchess (2024) is one of those movies where it depends on you go into this movie and what you are expecting from it, so I would recommend that you go check this movie out for yourself.

I read somewhere that this film can be compared to Quentin Tarantino's work, and why not - I immediately got a copy and started watching.

Everything is designed following the template of proven cult classics. The goal of every scene is to shock, to be brutal and comedic. They drink the blood of enemies, and the Colombian necktie is explicitly shown. But...

After the first minute, it becomes clear that this film is just an annoying copy, printed with a faint toner, based on all those films we love and respect. The action is forced. The dialogues are terrible - someone tried to make them good but failed. All the characters are similar - meant to be dangerous but are actually as desperate as the dialogues. The comedic writing of names next to characters who enter the story, after the fifteenth repetition, becomes boring and feels like someone is mocking you to your face.

I think one star is a harsh rating since the actors did at least try to show up for filming. So: two stars.

Duchess starts off well. The titular heroine, Charlotte Monaghan, falls for a charming, dynamic man who pulls her into his high-flying drug-funded lifestyle. The twist is that she's more than tough enough to make a go of it. Their relationship seems perfect.

From the outset, Marshall uses a variety of visual touches reminiscent of Guy Ritchie movies - freeze-frames, bold text captions, colorful narration in the heroine's distinctive voice (the most shameless over-the-top cockney accent since Dick van Dyke in Mary Poppins).

The performances make it work. Charlotte Kirk is not entirely convincing in the lead role, but she's very likable in a deliberately cartoony way. Philip Winchester is effortlessly charming as her crime-boss beau - I'd like to see much more of him in other roles. Sean Pertwee, a Neil Marshall regular, is welcome as always, doing his crusty supporting part. And Colm Meaney is meaner than we've ever seen him, in a single scene as the heroine's low-life father.

So far, so good. But about midway through, Duchess takes a turn for the more conventional and somewhat less enjoyable. What started as a quirky underworld romance morphs into a fairly straightforward revenge yarn. The flavorful characterizations of the first half are de-emphasized, in favor of over violently over-the-top action.

I'm okay with the violence, and with the revenge theme - but not so pleased about the predictability and occasional loose logic. It's still entertaining, with some nice set-piece moments - but not as fresh and original as the romance of the first half, nor as clever as we might expect from a director of Neil Marshall's accomplishments.

Nonetheless, I would definitely recommend Duchess to anyone who enjoys a wacky, ultra-violent crime send-up. It's an entertaining film, worth seeing if only for the off-beat performances.

Good enough for a TV pilot episode.

Camera work, background music, lighting, editing, sets, TV grade. If it were a show, I'd watch it. But, I would not pay to watch it in a theater, but I'd regularly watch this as a show. I swear it seemed like a pilot. Then there was a murder torture scene that shifted the entire tone, it felt out of place, then the tone suddenly lightened up again. Then it shifts and shifts again. Its like the creators couldn't decide what exactly the kind of movie or even TV show they were making. Script is full of cliche's. Expected for a TV, not a movie. Title style location labels pop across the sceen like an 80's action show. There are a unneeded pauses, for emotional reflection. Characters pontificate to spell out motivations and intentions. The script seems like it was written by young out of work would be TV writers.