Njs2016

This is one of those movies that many of us who enjoyed the books had been looking forward to. Of course, no adaptation can ever be 100% faithful to its source material, but this one feels especially uneven. The first part of the film drags, weighed down with clunky "Netflix-style" exposition. What made the novel so charming-the eccentric details, the quirks and foibles, back stories, and the very British sense of humor-has largely been flattened out. It should have felt like the Famous Five all grown up, retired, and solving murders. Instead, we get a cast of very talented, well-known actors working with a limp script that strips away everything that was unique about the book.

There are no standout performances as the script doesn't dwell on any character development , but the real problem here lies with Chris Columbus. The film lacks both direction and any real understanding of, or sympathy for, the novel and what made it so successful. Sadly, it feels like another case of Netflix snapping up the rights and running the story through an algorithm to produce the blandest version possible. Perhaps it would have worked better as a series. Perhaps, for those who love the books, it's best to let the characters remain on the page.

The film plays more like an overproduced episode of Midsomer Murders. At times, it even reminded me of The Boys in Blue with Cannon and Ball-though if you haven't seen that, consider yourself lucky.

Aside from the directorial tone, the script has serious problems. The ending feels rushed, and the shifts in pacing from the novel make it anticlimactic. Worse still, the writing often undercuts itself. At one moment, the film invites us to appreciate that age is no barrier to knowledge, but in the next it asks us to laugh at "old phones" and the characters' supposed confusion with technology. A painfully unfunny gag about a PDF file is followed just minutes later by Elizabeth effortlessly collating and printing photos from multiple smartphones.

It's a feeble mess, which is a shame, because the novel-while cozy and a little corny-also carried a real undercurrent of darkness and menace. Here, that edge is completely absent. Columbus directs it as though he borrowed drones from Downton Abbey and the twee set design of The Vicar of Dibley.

The result is the kind of movie you make when you don't trust your audience to follow a plot, or to understand England well enough to appreciate a more authentic setting and cultural nuance.

A real missed opportunity for what could have been a cracking film. No wonder Netflix burried it at the end of August and didn't give it a theatrical wide release.

This is a really bingeable series, what makes it stand out from other run of the mill binge watches is a) the script, keeps buzzing a limb and keeps the humour coming. Characters all are a little larger than life but always kept in the realms of believable. Then there is b) the casting. Across the board this is so well cast, Hardy proves (yet again) why he is head and shoulders above other 'hard men' actors, displaying the kind of depth and skill that made him breakthrough with Bronson back in the day, he carries the series and each scene with charm. Add to that Brosnan, Mirren, Froggwtt, Jones, Consodine and the entire support on perfect form - with a great support from the ever reliable Alex Jennings then this is a real watch it in a day fest.

On initial release this got some sniffy reviews from critics, but as it has been since watched by an audience the score has gone higher and higher. After ten great episodes all I can say is roll on season two. Best British mob drama since McMafia (which should of had a series 2) in my humble opinion, but with many more laughs.

I was about ten minutes in when I started to think that this must be an AI script. I was about seventeen minutes in when I realised it couldn't be AI because it couldn't be this bad.

Or to make my point, the approach of the screenwriter seems to be ' it's old so I'll overwrite everything and add a MY LORD' to the end of every line'

So in tribute to the so so lacklustre plotline I'll sign off in the same style.

'I was but a viewer of this tale, My Lord. To Sky I had pledged my coin and thus I found myself watching this shortly before I took to my bed weary from toil. My Lord, it prepared me well, as its soporific words did come over my ears like an alpine horn. By God! That is Swiss and proud to be..My Lord'.

Nice mountains, lots of running about and a nice holiday for Sir Jonathan Pryce and Sir Ben Kingsley I hope. Just a total bore.

Avoid like curdled alpine milk.