Review: Pirates Of The Caribbean: Salazar's Revenge

First and foremost, I love the Pirates Of The Caribbean films. It's great fun, with top performances in a very well constructed world. I kind of get the hate, especially for the fourth installment On Stranger Tides. But this franchise is one of the most exciting ones of recent times in my opinion.

It is hard to imagine that it has been 14 years since the first Pirates film. 2003 saw The Curse Of The Black Pearl get really well received by both the critics and general public. It is easy to forget that this opening to a franchise got 5 Oscar nominations, including Best Actor for Johnny Depp as the now iconic Captain Jack Sparrow.
It's sequel Dead Man's Chest is where allegiances become split. While the majority of critics did not like it, the public still can't get enough of the swash-buckling action. For me, it's fantastic and is my favourite of the franchise. I loved how they expanded this world, and how clever all the sub-plots managed to end up. It also won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
It also managed to beautifully set-up At World's End. I will agree that it is hard to keep up with all the sub-plots and the reasoning . But I personally managed to not only understand what was going on, but make sense of it.
Four years later saw the fourth chapter On Stranger Tides get made. It was quite the gap before this one came around. That loss of momentum and the film in general being easily the weakest in the franchise gave this sub-par reviews from all demographics. I will agree, it is nowhere near as good as the first three. But I still enjoyed this one.

Six years later, and amazingly we still apparently need more adventures with Captain Sparrow and his crew. I'm always up for another adventure. But this huge gap even got me worried that people might not care for this franchise anymore.

A thrilling opening action set-piece really gets you back into this world straight away. While Depp's performance early on looks a bit over the top, even by his standards, the start is a romping one. Then we start to see some new characters who are effectively a new version of Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom's characters. They began quite promising, and I would be interested to where they would end up.
I was really happy to see them remind ourselves about the predicament our heroes were in at the end of On Stranger Tides. So I can safely say it does mean that you have to watch the previous films to get everything that is happening on screen.
The second act moves along at a solid pace with a terrific tent-pole action scene, including a very cool flashback scene that shows the origins of our main character which executed rather well. Some gags weren't quite working by this time. But there was still enough fun to be had going into the finale.
The build-up to the final act had pretty cool swash-buckling/fantasy action. Then the finale it self was definitely sparing no expense on the ambition.

It is directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg. They haven't done any big films until now, and I think it showed. It might not be as exciting or memorable as the first three. But I still had a good time with it.

While Johnny Depp has good moments of vintage Jack Sparrow. For the most part, it felt like more of an impression by one of those street artists you see in busy shopping areas. I think he needed to hold the reigns back a bit, and we would have got that scruffy deceiving pirate who manages to always be one step ahead of you.
Javier Bardem was fine as the main villain. But I think the design that they gave him did not make me think that this guy is bad news. It made me question the CGI more than anything else. With that in mind, and his performance not being engaging enough to be memorable, he was probably on-par with Ian McShane's portrayal of Blackbeard in On Stranger Tides.
I liked what they did with Geoffrey Rush. Yes, he is back as Hector Barbossa. Unlike Depp, Rush remains consistent with his character and is probably many people's favourite supporting character. He also looks like the only person that fits the tone of the film perfectly.
As for the newbies in the form of Kaya Scodelario and Brenton Thwaites, the former was surprisngly good and the latter was just a pretty boy to replace Orlando Bloom. I felt Scodelario's character was a strong female character that I could get invested with, and I hope to see her in any potential new Pirates films.
It was great to see a lot of the old gang back with Kevin McNally as Gibbs, Stephen Graham as Scrum, Martin Klebba as Marty and the bumbling duo of Angus Barnett and Giles New as Mullroy and Murtogg.
I was really surprised to see David Wenham in this. I've always seen him as a really good supporting character who is always well under-used, and it's the same for this one. He gets introduced well, and gets slowly shifted aside for the main characters.
It was great to see Golshifteh Farahani get her big break after her great performance in Paterson. Sadly she was given a very strange role that made little sense to be honest. If felt like the writers attempts at giving us a new Tia Dalma-esque character. But sadly, they could not emulate the work Naomie Harris did.
There is one cameo you might already be aware of, and when it first came on screen I thought it was completely ridiculous. But by the end of it, the writing given to this particular character ending up being rather funny. So a mixed reaction on that surprise.

A Pirates Of The Caribbean movies always means a huge budget. But sadly like a lot of blockbusters these days, a lot of the visual effects look far too digital and feel out of place with the practical effects. Maybe I'm just being an old fart. But it just seems a lot of big budget films can't seem to always pull off impressive CGI that flows seamlessly with the live-action. An example I always use is 1993's Jurassic Park. When visual effects was in its infancy, they not only still hold up, but they for me are still the best CGI within that particular franchise.
The CGI in this was probably the worst. A fair amount of it was fine. But some of the character designs did not look right on screen and landscape shots clearly looked like green screen.

The practical sets in these films always please me a lot. Those moments looked great and elevated those scenes, as they added emotional weight to the action taking place.

Another essential aspect of any Pirates film is the now infamous score. It's still great to hear. Hans Zimmer's themes are still there. But this time, doing the score is a man called Geoff Zanelli. He added some good additions to the already well established score.

There were a few negatives that I have to mention. There were lots of dark scenes that were tough to tell what was going on. Also there were moments where the dialogue forced me to really tune my ears to make sure I could hear what was being said. If they could have put a bit more light into those scenes and sharpened the execution of the dialogue, then that probably would have enhanced those action scenes a bit more, and made it more of a spectacle.
The duration is an interesting one. This is probably the only time when I felt a Pirates film to be too long. But it turns out, this is the shortest one of the franchise at just over 2 hours long. That for me means that the story was not interesting enough to fill that amount of time.
My final negative was the comedy. This franchise I remember having a surprising amount of laughs. I struggle recall any amusing moments in this one.

In the end I had a fairly good with it. Every aspect does enough to fill the time well. But it is nowhere near as memorable or engaging as the first three.
I could be cruel and say that Salazar's Revenge and On Stranger Tides have become a re-hash of The Curse Of Black Pearl. Both are uninspiring, there is little tension and everyone just seems to be going through the motions with no real stakes or much content you can get invested in. To be honest, I could say that for so many new franchise installments.
There was not anything terrible about it. But there is not much that is great and that will stick in your head long after seeing it.

To rank this with the others, I would put this on a par with On Stranger Tides. But if I had to separate them, I would give On Stranger Tides the edge. To call this the worst of the franchise would be a bit harsh. It is more of my least favourite.
I think the general fans will find this a serviceable couple of hours. For the purist Pirates fan like myself, you can have fun with it and enjoy seeing how they expand the mythology within this world.

As usual, I was glad I missed the trailers. Now that I've seen them, it contained a lot of my favourite moments from the film. Had I had seen the trailers, I would probably would not have liked them as much.

And finally, like with all the other Pirates films, there is a post-credit scene. It's clear set-up for a potential sixth chapter, and the stuff they hint looked cool. But I am dreading that this one could be just the equivalent of a greatest hits album. Nothing new, just re-treading familiar waters. Fingers crossed that I am wrong.

Rating: 7/10

Review: Away

I was very fortunate to find a screening of this low-budget British drama.

It started by having a short stint at the Edinburgh Film Festival. I noticed it would get an extremely small release. Sadly, I initially could not see any releases near me. Then I saw that it was coming out on DVD a few days after its cinema release.
When I thought I would never a big-screen experience, my local Picturehouse managed to get one screening of it for one day only.

I was already seeing a concept that is very similar to the 2006 film Venus which starred Peter O'Toole and Jodie Whittaker. Instead, we have Timothy Spall and Juno Temple. When this type of story works, it's very moving and entertaining. This is definitely another one of those.
When our main characters have had enough of an introduction, it is quite gripping development and by the time the final act arrives there are many charming moments that ends with an emotional and satisfying ending.

Most of the film is shot and set in Blackpool, and they really make it look great. The nightlife looks magical and the sights look stunning, especially the Tower Ballroom. I have to mention a first for me, and that is my hometown of Southport got a mention in a film. With the film being filmed and set in Blackpool, I did have a feeling that the fellow Lancashire coastal resort would get mentioned.

Also, the score by Anne Dudley accompanies the images really well and fits the tone, especially in several highly memorable scenes.

Temple and Spall are great together. Their back-and-forth develops beautifully throughout, including a 'Beauty And The Beast'-esque scene that was really charming. Temple was probably the more enigmatic of the two. Her performance felt gritty, genuine, highly committed and she has such striking eyes that I won't forget anytime soon. She has a solid recent back catalogue, and I hope this gets her much bigger roles.
Timothy Spall continues his grizzled performance that he started in Mr. Turner. It is one that fits his persona perfectly at this moment in his career and it continues show how fantastic of an actor he still is today.
I must mention that Hayley Squires play a minor role in this, and she certainly makes the most of the small time she has on screen. After her terrific performance in 'I, Daniel Blake', I really hope she gets the opportunity of roles in powerful dramas.

There were some parts of the story that went down strange tangents that did not quite work as well as expected.
A big negative was the choice in editing. There are many flashback scenes, and the timing felt wrong as it was hard to tell where it fitted in with the stories timeline. There were even times where I couldn't tell if I was flashback or not.

Despite those inconsistencies, my overall view of the film is a very good one. It was a really well made story that was simple and grounded. It had me in a range of emotions that worked well at the right times. Temple is fantastic in this, and her chemistry with Spall is really strong.
For someone who lives in that part of the world, it was great seeing Blackpool be a beautifully shot backdrop to this lovely story.

I really hope this gets some love on DVD as it got a criminally small cinema distribution.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Miss Sloane

Here is another film within a month where it has already received a lot of backlash before its wide release. For this film, the lash-put has come from certain demographics in relation to the subject matter, which is gun lobbying in America.

It is understandable for the controversy to happen, and fair play to the film-makers and studios for making a film with a hotly debated topic.

I personally could never care for any of this, as all I see is the film. If it has controversial content, then I might start getting on-board with whatever they're arguing about.

All I saw was a totally enthralling and intensely gripping political thriller that is completely female driven, and rightly so.
From the very first scene, you can tell it is going to be a tense and frenetic ride. The almost Aaron Sorkin-like dialogue got me much more hooked then I thought I would. As we move into the second act, we start to get some supporting roles beginning to have their moment in a film that is pretty much a one woman show. After several scenes were a pure white-knuckle-ride, we get a satisfying ending despite the cheap yet effective twist.

Never has Jessica Chastain look so empowering. You can really feel the tension when anyone is in her presence. Almost everyone is very careful to not get on the wrong side. Her character is stone-cold, and the performance reflects that perfectly. I would easily given this an Oscar nomination, as it was eligible for the Oscar earlier this year.
While Chastain is carrying the film, there were enough moments for some supporting cast members to have their moment, and make it a memorable one. Mark Stuhlbarg, who is doing rather well lately, had a solidly developed as he was effectively the main protagonist. There is one pretty slick scene involving him and a snooker table.
Gugu Mbatha-Raw remains to be quite a talent. The British actress' American accent in this is on-point and consistent. Also, her characters development is key to the film and it works really well. Especially with her early on-screen relationship with Chastain. Another Brit doing a good American accent, was Mark Strong, who did as gooder job as you would expect. It was also great to see John Lithgow, despite having a minor role that was only heavily involved in the final act.

There were lots of positives from the technical side that enhanced the story rather well. It is shot really well and has that business colour palette that 'The Apprentice' would be proud of. The score plays a good role that at first you don't notice.

As mentioned before the script was one of the films strongest aspect. I liked the aggressive execution of it. It manages to be both intense and quite amusing as a lot of the dialogue is back-and-forth with our main characters. There is rarely a time to breath as it is just constant high quality written debates. So with that in mind, it can sometimes be a bit too much. But I would rather have this than a dull script.

I really enjoyed this one. It's a gripping political thriller with top performances, a slick and relentless script and it was delivered really well by a stellar cast. Director John Madden and his team have a great job. He has made some successes in the past 'Shakespeare In Love' and 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel'. I would most certainly add this to that bracket.

Chastain is fantastic and worth the admission price alone. Amazingly, the supporting cast still have moment in the sun. That for me, shows how the script is.
In an age where equality is the fashion, this is one of the best female driven films I have seen for some time.
The pacing is pretty quick, and it rarely lets up.  I like the messages its telling, and it poses some great questions we should be aware of, especially in the second half of the film. I almost forgot to mention, that once the final act takes place, you could see this as a heist as well as political thriller.

Rating: 8/10

Review: Alien: Covenant

The Alien franchise has gone through a few transformations. It started with a bang in 1979 as it gave the sci-fi genre a horror angle to it, and director Ridley Scott's claustrophobic environment made this quite a viewing experience.
Then seven years later, James Cameron took the reigns with a 'balls-the-the-wall' action extravaganza. Both films have been considered some of the greatest films of all-time.

Since then, they haven't come close to that same success. Alien 3 saw the directorial debut of David Fincher. While it was mildly entertaining, it was first and foremost, a letdown.
Five years later in 1997 saw in my view the pointless fourth installment of Alien: Resurrection. While it may have been perfectly fine viewing. The story just did not feel that it needed to be told.

2004 and 2007 saw Alien go into its wilderness years with a couple of spin-offs in its Alien vs. Predator series. While the concept would bring in audiences, the films themselves were not that memorable. To be fair, some moments of AVP were great fan service and the execution of the fight scenes were pretty cool. But I'm afraid, that was about it. Especially, when its sequel AVP: Requiem was just the worst.

Five years later saw our prayers answered, as Ridley Scott returned in 2012 to his sci-fi roots for the prequel that is Prometheus. Taking place in the Alien universe, this was a story of an event that took place long before the events of the first Alien movie.
I still remember the hype surrounding it like it was yesterday. The trailers got me super-psyched, and I could not stop watching them. It was also the first film I went to see at the cinema at a midnight screening. After seeing it, my views were as mixed as you could get. Whether it was loved or hated, it was one of the most talked about films of that year.

While the mythology was interesting and the visuals, set designs and score completely spectacular. The characters were just so stupid and there were plenty of dumb moments that just ruined the films logic. That being said, I still enjoy watching it, and it is gorgeous to look at.

Now we have Alien: Covenant. Being billed as a sequel to Prometheus, many people including myself were hoping for a much more coherent story, and hopefully starting to see the connection between these prequels and the first Alien movie.

If you remember the end of Prometheus, it saw Noomi Rapace and Michael Fassbender's characters leaving the planet LV-223 to find "paradise" where there creators were from.

Well, we eventually get to see what happens after that. Meanwhile, we have a new crew to get to know.
The first act is very good. There's lots of new characters to know about, and they're introduced rather well. I was loving the practical sets, as Ridley Scott is so well renowned for. Also, some of the intense scenes had me on the edge. The frantic camerawork and editing made it quite a thrilling and exciting opening act with enough gross-out moments that would have fitted in well with the original Alien.
Then there's quite a dramatic change to the tone. The stuff I was seeing on screen felt like a mix of 'Jurassic Park III' and 'King Kong, which I never thought I would say. When I got used to the shift in tone, it begins to go down a path that I was not expecting, but enjoyed by the end of it.
Sadly as we were building towards the final act, there was a big action set-piece that never got me engaged whatsoever. The main reason I think I reacted in that way, was probably the execution of the creatures involved. They were supposed to be scary. Bu I did not care for it at all.
Then the finale managed to be rather good for the most part. This was when I could see the complete transition from being a Prometheus sequel, to an Alien prequel. There's a twist that was pretty obvious. But I thought they ended on a note that I am rather intrigued to see where they go from here.

There is only one performance that carried this film from start to finish, and that is Michael Fassbender. After being the star of the show in Prometheus, Fassbender is still great. The evolution his character has was quite impressive to watch, and he really is the star of this current series of films.
Katherine Waterston still does not do it for me. Apart from her pretty good minor role in Steve Jobs, every other performance I've seen her in just does not feel engaging at all. Most of you will remember her from Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them. In that, I felt her to be pretty forgettable despite the heavy amount of screen-time.
In this, she is definitely more memorable. But she just does not have that presence of a leading role. I was not really rooting for her in any of the action set-pieces that she was involved in. I could probably say the same for Billy Crudup. I like the story-arch they were giving his character at the start. But his performance was did not have me interested in how his character would end up.
Thankfully, there was a saving grace, in the form Danny McBridge no less. The actor more known for his comedic chops actually played serious rather well. I liked his introduction, we get a solid backstory and he ends up being a well-rounded character by the end of it. He is definitely the Bill Paxton of this film. The rest of the cast were a solid support. They looked the part and played to a solid quality. But they all felt pretty disposable in the end.

Lots of the technical aspects are as you would expect for a Ridley Scott blockbuster. The practical sets and costumes are gorgeous to look at. It is thorough in its detail and it amazed me how much of it was actual sets or location shots instead of green screen. The score by Jed Kurzel was a nice surprise, and it will delight fans of the original Alien movie. Also, most of the visual effects seamlessly flowed into the live-action. However, there were some parts including a major creature design that looked very digital and felt out of place with everything else.

As well as that part of the visual effects I have just mentioned, the writing was also the big negatives. The choices they make in moving the story along either did not work for me or gradually grew on me. It takes a few different shifts in its tone, which took a while to adapt and it therefore slowed my momentum in getting into the film. They had good reason to do this as this seemed to be the film that switches from the Prometheus tone into the Alien tone. However, I think a more subtle execution would have been the better option, rather than an abrupt one.

In the end, this eighth Alien film is pretty solid on the whole. It begins with a pretty strong first act, then the rest of it is a bit of a bumpy ride. Some bits worked very well, some not so much and there were some big moments that I could not care for.
Fassbender is the big draw and without him, this could have been a major disappointment. It's great to look at, the practical sets are impressive and the score is a nice bonus. However, there were too many inconsistencies in its tone that ruined the flow, the major action set-pieces were not exciting and lots of the parts that were supposed to be scary were far too cliched and predictable. A bit like in Prometheus, it does well in its world-building and mythology, but not so much on the execution and its characters.

If I had to rank it, I would give it the edge over Prometheus, as it is much more coherent and the characters were nowhere near as dumb in this one. So it seems to be in that pool with Alien 3 as well. But I think the thing everyone will be saying is the more Alien films we see, the more I think nothing will ever get close to the quality of Alien or Aliens.

If there is a 3D option, don't go for it. There were a couple of moments that looked like it would be a 3D moment. But a lot of the film is in a dark environment or takes place at night. So with 3D glasses losing about 30% of light from the picture, quite a bit of the film will be tough to see.

Rating: 7/10

My Top 10: Dwayne Johnson Films

Many people from my generation will have first seen Dwayne Johnson, as The Rock in WWE, when it was called WWF back in the day. But since 2001, his gradual transition from leaving professional wrestling and becoming a Hollywood A-lister has completed for a few years now.

He began with the odd blockbuster. But it was mainly middle-of-the-road action films where you would see Johnson as the lead. However, the last few years has seen the California native become a regular slot within the big summer releases.

His charisma is ridiculously good, his face can sell any movie and save any franchise. Is there anything Dwayne Johnson can not do? So far, there is nothing he can't do. But it will be interesting to see how long he can keep this up.

Out of his 39 films, I have only seen 35 of them. I will rank all of the ones that I have seen, and give a short review for each of my top 10:

35) Journey 2: The Mysterious Island
34) Tooth Fairy
33) The Scorpion King
32) The Game Plan
31) G.I. Joe: Retaliation
30) Fast & Furious 6
29) Pain & Gain

28) Hercules
27) Baywatch
26) Empire State

25) Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw
24) San Andreas
23) Central Intelligence
22) Race To Witch Mountain
21) Walking Tall
20) Snitch
19) Doom
18) Fast & Furious 8
17) Skyscraper
16) Planet 51
15) Faster
14) Get Smart
13) Rampage 

12) Black Adam

11) Jungle Cruise

10) Jumanji: The Next Level - The third and latest installment of a franchise that continues to be highly entertaining.

When one member of the gang decides to go back into Jumanji, the rest return in attempt to rescue him. But the game has changed a lot since last time.

Johnson and the rest of the strong cast still make this franchise work and while it isn't breaking new ground, it's a guaranteed good time.

9) Super Pets - A fun and pleasant superhero film that sees Johnson voice Krypto, Superman's pet that has the same superpowers as his owner.

But when the Justice League is kidnapped, it's up to Krypto to construct a rescue mission.

Predictable it may be. But it's harmless fun the whole family can enjoy.

8) Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle - I feared the worst as I love the original. But I was pleasantly surprised by this comedy adventure.

This concept evolves well into the next generation and Dwayne Johnson is leading the way in what is a star-studded cast.

7) Welcome To The Jungle - Johnson's first big film after being the Scorpion King for two movies.

This is a surprisingly fun action adventure that sees Johnson get involved with a stellar cast including Sean William-Scott, Christopher Walker and Rosario Dawson.

Also, Ewan Bremner has some solid comedic relief.

6) The Other Guys - Adam McKay keeps delivering in his comedies as Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg lay idiot cops that have the opportunity to become the go-to guys, like the cops they idolize.
Johnson plays one of those top-cops, along with Samuel L. Jackson.

5) Gridiron Gang - An uplifting sports drama that sees a counselor of a junior detention centre make a football team to give the teenagers a form of learning to work together.

Along with Xzibit, Johnson leads the way and gives the film that necessary feel-good tone to make this more memorable then it should have been.

4) Be Cool - A pretty amusing sequel to Get Shorty. Johnny Travolta as lead character Chili Palmer. This time, he has moved from the movie business, to the music industry.
This leads to visiting a whole host of new characters played by a stellar cast. Johnson moves out of his comfort zone and plays a gay bodyguard who is trying to be an actor. Johnson plays the comedy so well and has many memorable scenes.

3) The Mummy Returns - The film that started his acting career. While not in the movie for that long, the whole story is about his character.

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weiss return as the O'Connell's, and they must return to Egypt to vanquish another ancient evil.

I remember the huge marketing this got in 2001, and I still think it's a good fun popcorn adventure extravaganza.

2) Fast & Furious 5 - Johnson's most successful outing within a franchise. With the Fast & Furious films slowly losing interest, a change in the look and feel of the film has now turned the fifth installment into a heist film.

Johnson plays a deadly federal agent that is out to stop the street racers from achieving this heist.

1) Moana - For me, this is Johnson's best performance, and I'm happy to see that it's in his best movie.

Disney's latest animated feature sees Johnson play a Polynesian demigod who helps out a young princess to lift a curse that has clouded over their region.

Review: The Promise

To say this film has had quite a backlash even before its release, is a huge understatement.

Ever since hearing about the topic this film was covering, many people from a specific country have been giving this film aggressively negative reviews, without even seeing it.

Also, the critical reviews from the film festivals reminded that it was going the same path that Titanic and Pearl Harbor. That path was to tell a love story with a true tragic event as the backdrop. However, it sounded like the film was going to be more like the latter than its Oscar-winning former.

I was intrigued after seeing the trailers, and the director and cast involved gave me hope. I also wanted to know about the subject matter, and it is something that I never got taught at school.

I was glad to say that it is most certainly not a 1/10, like most of those boycotters were campaigning it to be. But it is not far off those soapy melodramatic reviews from most of the critics.

This film is directed by Terry George, who is most well known for directing Hotel Rwanda. This film weirdly has a similar story to it. That made me think this director has some strange fetish to wanting to direct films based on mass genocide. Either that, or he just wanted to expose this subject more to the masses, and various governments have tried to deny admitting that this happened.

But for a film with such a shocking topic, you would think it would be more of a visceral experience. Sadly it just made me want to watch Hotel Rwanda again, as that was really moving and effective.

Oscar Isaac was a pretty good lead. He was committed to his Armenian accent and his screen presence is always a welcoming one. Charlotte Le Bon was better then I expected. I had only ever seen her in The Walk, so I wasn't sure if she could work in something like this. But she ended up being fairly engaging and had a good transformation by the end of it. I'm not sure what to make of Christian Bale. He never stood out in his performance, and it seemed that role could have done by anyone. For someone as big as Bale, you would certainly have expected a lot more out of him.

I will give the film its due. There are certain scenes that were effective and striking. But there just weren't enough of them to make this a memorable experience. It does have the making of a Doctor Zhivago-esque epic. But I think with better performances and writing, this could have been much more enthralling.

In the end, it's done enough for me to get a pass. It does have its moments. You can tell the film-makers are taking this subject matter seriously. The performances seem very committed to the cause. The locations look great and the general look of it is visually arresting. I don't think it's as melodramatic as many others are saying. But I will agree that it is covering too much on the love story and not showing enough development on the war happening around them.
I don't mind them doing this, as it is a very accessible type of story that has worked well in the past. However, it just didn't quite engage me enough to make it memorable. It is a solid piece of work. But sadly, I cannot see myself watching it again or remembering any particular moments.

I would probably wait till it is on TV.

Rating: 7/10