Luther: The Fallen Sun
This review contains spoilers
Luther: The Fallen Sun is good, but it could have been great. It brings a great new plot and premise and still contains much of what made the series iconic, but is unfortunately dragged down by too many elements to reach the same heights.
STORY/PLOT
Another great premise for a psycho actually and very fitting. Luther is in prison due to the events that went down during the series finale. During his stint inside, somebody is gathering personal information on people, finding out their deepest darkest secrets and using this information to commit mass blackmail in sickening ways. Luther, being Luther, and being taunted by the man behind it all escapes prison to track him down and put an end to his reign of terror.
It gets extremely far fetched, far more than the series, and leans into wanting to be a Bond film too much in the end, but the actual story and the idea of a twisted psychopath using personal information and social media to control people and commit horrific acts all the while drawing a mass following by sickos hiding behind a screen online is both brilliant and very fitting for the world we live in today. It makes for an interesting and quite unsettling story. The ending was unnecessary however, going full Bond was not the way to go.
ACTING
Overall pretty good. Idris is brilliant as Luther once again. Andy Serkis was a much welcomed addition, his performance was stellar. Dermot Crowley and Thomas Coombes were great, but all in all the cast at the very least were decent.
CHARACTERS
A bit of a mixed bag here. Luther is class, he's a brilliant character and a UK icon, nothing changes here. Schenk is back again, still as likable as ever and one of the newbies Archie Woodward was also pretty good.
David Robey, the psycho Andy Serkis plays is a strange one. Serkis's performance was great, the character itself is polarising to me. He's hateable and sadistic, as he should be, but other than the power and resources he has to achieve the carnage he does the man himself is somewhat underwhelming. He's a snivelling little man with a haircut more criminal than he is. Probably quite accurate to the people with online power he's based on but compared to the wackos in the series, he falls short.
Odette Raine, Schenk's replacement played by Cynthia Erivo, is not likeable at all. Something about the powerful female members of the police force seem to have a ridiculous obsession with refuting and sense or logic purely because it came from Luther. This and the fact that the character is very basic make her a poor addition.
CINEMATOGRAPHY/VISUAL DESIGN
Another face off. On one hand the camera work is pretty good, there's some nice shots throughout and some of the scenes are intense and shocking, very enjoyable.
On the other hand the unforgivable crime of using utterly rancid CGI is committed, made worse by the fact that the poorest example of it was used in a scene meant to shock the viewer, an attempt that was completely butchered due to the quality.
SOUNDTRACK/AUDIO
Great soundtrack. Moody, atmospheric and intense. Does a really good job a making the threat antagonist David poses feel much more momentous and significant. New renditions of Luther's theme song Paradise Circus also went well with the story, a nod to the series while making it feel like different situation different Luther.
STORY/PLOT
Another great premise for a psycho actually and very fitting. Luther is in prison due to the events that went down during the series finale. During his stint inside, somebody is gathering personal information on people, finding out their deepest darkest secrets and using this information to commit mass blackmail in sickening ways. Luther, being Luther, and being taunted by the man behind it all escapes prison to track him down and put an end to his reign of terror.
It gets extremely far fetched, far more than the series, and leans into wanting to be a Bond film too much in the end, but the actual story and the idea of a twisted psychopath using personal information and social media to control people and commit horrific acts all the while drawing a mass following by sickos hiding behind a screen online is both brilliant and very fitting for the world we live in today. It makes for an interesting and quite unsettling story. The ending was unnecessary however, going full Bond was not the way to go.
ACTING
Overall pretty good. Idris is brilliant as Luther once again. Andy Serkis was a much welcomed addition, his performance was stellar. Dermot Crowley and Thomas Coombes were great, but all in all the cast at the very least were decent.
CHARACTERS
A bit of a mixed bag here. Luther is class, he's a brilliant character and a UK icon, nothing changes here. Schenk is back again, still as likable as ever and one of the newbies Archie Woodward was also pretty good.
David Robey, the psycho Andy Serkis plays is a strange one. Serkis's performance was great, the character itself is polarising to me. He's hateable and sadistic, as he should be, but other than the power and resources he has to achieve the carnage he does the man himself is somewhat underwhelming. He's a snivelling little man with a haircut more criminal than he is. Probably quite accurate to the people with online power he's based on but compared to the wackos in the series, he falls short.
Odette Raine, Schenk's replacement played by Cynthia Erivo, is not likeable at all. Something about the powerful female members of the police force seem to have a ridiculous obsession with refuting and sense or logic purely because it came from Luther. This and the fact that the character is very basic make her a poor addition.
CINEMATOGRAPHY/VISUAL DESIGN
Another face off. On one hand the camera work is pretty good, there's some nice shots throughout and some of the scenes are intense and shocking, very enjoyable.
On the other hand the unforgivable crime of using utterly rancid CGI is committed, made worse by the fact that the poorest example of it was used in a scene meant to shock the viewer, an attempt that was completely butchered due to the quality.
SOUNDTRACK/AUDIO
Great soundtrack. Moody, atmospheric and intense. Does a really good job a making the threat antagonist David poses feel much more momentous and significant. New renditions of Luther's theme song Paradise Circus also went well with the story, a nod to the series while making it feel like different situation different Luther.
Mini Review: Luther: The Fallen Sun is good, but it could have been great. It brings a great new plot and premise and still contains much of what made the series iconic, but is unfortunately dragged down by too many elements to reach the same heights.
Watch the Trailer