Luther: The Fallen Sun

A decent and entertaining crime drama based on the famous TV series Luther. I don't know the series, so I can't compare, but the film holds up even without knowing it. I enjoyed the plot, where Luther goes to prison and has to escape to catch a maniacal killer who is terrorizing London, and the police are all over him. It is a cool and fun storyline that I liked from the start. Idris Elba's performance is deft and you can root for him. Cynthia Erivo evoked The Outsider for me and I'm glad to see her in a detective role as well. But the absolute best thing about the whole film is Andy Serkis, who plays the villain with grace. He's nasty, he's got crazy plans, he's intelligent, in short a great killer as it should be; he pulls the whole film off without a hitch. Visually it's passable, but it's not the strongest point of the film, in short a better Netflix Look. The action is average, but it's not an action film, so I take it here more as a bonus (in how many crime dramas we get to see a prison riot, right?). The music is good though, it adds to the atmosphere and I liked the pace of the narrative, where something is constantly happening and not standing still at all, which is rather rare in this genre, so I give Luther plus points for that. I also liked the actual ideas of the murders (the hangings are properly chilling). The script occasionally hiccups and a few things don't quite make sense, but as an entertaining, well acted crime flick it worked reliably for me. (03/15/2023)

I'm not familiar with the original series, but its positive reviews and ubiquitous praise have made me quite tempted to watch a sort of indirect sequel, especially since it's on Netflix. Luther: The Fallen Sun is particularly special because we know the killer from the beginning, and that sets it apart within the genre mainstream. I was slightly skeptical at first, but certain elements eventually won me over and reap plus points. Idris Elba is still the same badass, the excellent Andy Serkis plays the psychopath like a god and was perhaps born into this character, not to mention that his Gollum features add significantly to it, and summarily the story is also fine, something is constantly happening and evolving, so that the excessive running time of two hours doesn't get downright boring. This style of villain mastermind is quite original and sophisticated and overall it's a good watch. On the other hand, the action and the realism, the voice acting and the choreography are a bit lacking and the film looks quite B-ish and unpolished, and it doesn't score much in the details either, or rather, it's a bit silly in places. Otherwise I had reasonable fun though it's definitely not the dud that the film could potentially be – after all, Netflix is a trash factory these days. A decent average. (03/11/2023)