3 Short Paragraphs (Or Not): Luther: The Fallen Sun

2023, Jamie Payne (Outlander) -- Netflix

We slogged through a rewatch of the entirety of Luther to prepare us to watch this movie. Luther is already relegated to that nostalgic fond memory section of my brain, but I do recall being less than fond of the final two series, and confirmed it. They just seemed to be retreading the character without exploring the themes of the original two series. The character study has been dispensed with to just let Idris Elba don the overcoat and do his angry, hands in pockets shuffle towards punishing those that really deserve to be punished. Despite my confirmation of "meh", I did gain a greater appreciation of Alice this time round, and was hoping she would be a prime focus on this proper movie. Alas...

From the trailers, I had assumed we would find John Luther finally facing indictment for all the laws he had bent or broken in the previous series. I mean, we do but not in the natural progression I expected, but in a shoe-horn-it-into-the-plot way that left me shaking my head in frustration. It even almost implies that the majority of the material may have been misconstrued, but whatever, it sends Luther to jail.

And almost immediately out of it. I still think it would have been more impactful to start with John already in jail, and there a good long while, until Schenk has to convince him to break himself out, because they need him. They do need him, but its all on his own terms, as The Villain continues to kill after John's arrest and instant conviction derails the capture. 

So yeah, The Villain. Whoah. They go majorly over the top with this character. The series has often, but not always, been about John dealing with particularly nasty, violent villains. They have often, but not always, had an intensity about them. This takes that model and amps it up to Movie Levels. The Villain (Andy Serkis, The Batman) is a killer with resources, charm and ambition to commit depravity at not before seen levels. He convinces people to commit suicide, based on the embarrassing details he has collected on them, while also using them to torture their family. And like movie is amping the gorey details up, his character is amping up the level of his activity, as he collects people to torture on-air for an audience, whom I assume eventually end up as part of his greater blackmail scheme. 

I am not sure the whole Go Bigger worked for me. They went to Norway because... they wanted a big, flashy set-piece covered in fake snow? A vast frozen lake they could fall into? A place they could go from UK classic Not Noticeably Winter to a place covered in snow & ice? All of the above, I assume, but it just seemed tacked on showy. They could have covered the visceral ground of the final act without it, just like they could have covered the showy nature of untethered Andy Serkis via  lesser known actor. But this was The Movie, so showy was in the cards. I would have preferred if they had just touched on the classic notes of the Luther series, but with more budget, a more in-depth exploration of setting, and broad characterization. 

And no Alice. Boo.

Kent's take.