Queen & Country

Hope and Glory was delicious, sweet, sad and charming. This sequel, well, seems like a sequel in name only.

Some characters from the previous movie show up, but only in very, very minor and brief, non consequential roles.

The main story is a little boring and uneventful, like a bland episode of MASH. Pity, I really wanted to like this movie. There just isn't a lot of meat on the table.

Tasmin Egarton was GORGEOUS as was Vanessa Kirby. Callum Turner and Caleb Landry Jones did a very good job with what they had, there just wasn't much of a story.

The movie didn't just end as much as run out of script... I was actually surprised when the end credits appeared.

Sad. I wanted more.

Absolutely loved this film! Was really funny too. There was some serious scenes but also a bit if humour here and there. Great acting from all cast. Must watch.

This is a semi autobiographical sequel to Hope & Glory from writer/director John Boorman, dealing with his National Service years of the early 1950s.

Boorman like many others of his generation does not have any warm nostalgic memories of National Service. I always noticed it is only some right wing politicians and police chiefs that want to see National Service return. A supposed lazy fix to soaring crime rates, ignoring the fact the violent crime increased after World War 2 because of all those ex soldiers who had military training and use of firearms.

Bill Rohan the small 9 year old boy from Hope & Glory is now 18 years old and is doing his National Service. He is hoping to avoid seeing combat in Korea. Bill strikes up a friendship with the amoral Percy. Together they look to go out with girls and trying to survive two years of National Service.

Bill and Percy land on their feet teaching new recruits how to type. The fly in the ointment is by the book Sergeant Major Bradley, who is making everyone's life a misery looking for petty breach of the rulebook

Bill also strikes a relationship with a trouble attractive lady, Ophelia, however trouble arises over a missing clock that tests the friendship between Bill and Percy.

I have seen this film before. It was called Biloxi Blues, Neil Simon's semi autobiographical account of his time in basic training during the second world war. The movie has very little that was new here. Caleb Landry Jones has a mixed up English accent. David Heyman who reprises his role from Hope & Glory has been given a dreadful wig.

The problem is it lacks playfulness and fun coming across as anecdotal.

The post-war period often seems like a bit of a black hole for films. Aside from the films made at the time which dealt with the issues the population faced, most notably Italian Neorealism, contemporary films prefer to explore the actual conflict themselves. More drama is to be found there. But while World War II was 'the' war, the conflict never really stopped, and Britain still had mandatory military service at the age of 18, with deployment to Korea for their civil war a real proposition. This is what John Boorman focuses on for what is probably his final film, and a sequel to his most famous work, the 1987 mildly autobiographical piece Hope And Glory.

We are told the story of Bill, a young boy in the first film. He has grown up into quite the strapping young fellow, and he received his notice for mandatory army service. There he quickly befriends Percy, and a bond forms. But this bond is hardly the centre of the film. It stretches far beyond that, as Bill deals with the army, love and his family. This is all well paced handled by Boorman, who is probably best known, aside from Hope And Glory, for directing Deliverance.

The acting is quite spotty on a case by case basis, Callum Turner does very well as the protagonist Bill Rohan, but you can't help but think he was constantly being overshadowed by a couple of doses of overacting. Being manic or excitable is all well and good, but there occasions where people were channelling their inner Joker or Harley Quinn. On the subject of acting, David Thewlis (of Harry Potter fame) is present and he is phenomenal, one of my favourite acting performances of the year.

Furthermore, the script isn't perfect either. There were too many logical inconsistencies, especially early on, where background character information is introduced in very lazy ways, usually dialogue. It's frustrating to see two characters talking to each other about things they clearly already know, and that it's only for the audience's benefit.

What is best about the film is that it tells the story of war really well. This was something a film like Fury really fell short at, relying on clichés to tell a heroic story. Even though there are very few scenes of combat, Queen And Country definitely gets right what Fury got wrong, showing the horrors of war, what it does to people and how anyone can be a victim or a casualty. That goes a long way in my book.

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Writer and director John Boorman introduced us to some of these characters back in 1987 with the marvellous war time tale – 'Hope and Glory'. Bill is now ten years old and has been sent off to do his National Service – only we are now involved in the Korean War (which still limps on to this day – peace never having been formally agreed). He and his mate Percy though end up stuck in base camp teaching the typing pool.

Life in the camp is far from fun and games and the strict Regimental Sergeant Major and Sergeant Major make their life a bit of a hell – so they create diversions, shenanigans and go chasing the girls near the base by way of diversion. However, as with all diversions – whether on camp or elsewhere – there will be consequences.

Now this is a very well made film, period detail is great etc. The make up is all good and the acting is generally very good. Caleb Landry Jones as Percy Hapgood though struck me as miscast – his accent is unplacable (perhaps as he is American?); he does the emotion well but seems a bit unhinged – which may indeed have been the point. David Thewlis is probably the most stand out performance as the irritatingly unlikeable Bradley – and shows how broad his acting abilities are. Overall though a very good film and if you were a fan of the original, then you will probably want to see – but the jokes are much thinner on the ground here, but it still has a vibrancy that evokes the time and the passion in an endearing way.