Fargo episode 101: “The Crocodile’s Dilemma” REVIEW

“If that was me, i would have killed that man.”

This review is spoiler-free.

Fargo is a remake of the classic Coen Brothers film of the same name that was released in 1996. It changes the character names and situations from the original, and seems to become a completely different monster altogether. It follows Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) as he is tormented by life in general. After meeting Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton), who offers to kill someone who has been tormenting him, Nygaard begins to follow a dark, violent path, which leads him into making some decisions that he will probably regret. As this happens, Greta Grimly (Joey King) begins to track the case.

The cast are great, all emulating the vibe given from the original film. Although, i was surprised how much different it was from the film – the characters had all been changed, and it seemed like only the messages, and ideas surrounding life remained, as well as the setting. That really is how a remake should always be handled. It shouldn’t religiously recreate the original, but it should reference it subtly, while making the situations different. Billy Bob Thornton has the stand out performance, as his characters is so malicious and evil, that i loved to hate him. At the same time, he gave off an anti-hero vibe which made him strangely likable at rare times. He was terrifying. The other two main players were very good too, with Freeman’s descent into madness being highly engrossing to watch. Grimly gave a good performance also, but as her character was the stand out part in the original, where she was famously played by the fantastic Francis MacDormand, she fails to ever be as good as her original actress. This is a hard act to follow, but hopefully she will succeed to impress more in later episodes.

The direction was fine, but after having the Coen’s direct the source material, no director can really live up to that. It did, however, come off as a much darker piece than the original though, which i liked. Cinematography was good, if a bit simple. It had a sharp script that slightly lacked the humor of the original, but achieved portraying cruelty and malice very well.

The story was spot on for me, showing the idea of a man corrupting himself to try and do some good of the original film and turning it up to eleven. It was mad, with crazed, twisted, unexpected and bloody sequences continuously shocking. But thankfully these scenes were few and far between, leaving lots of time for great character development and plot intrigue.

I will be reviewing every episode of this ten episode mini-series, and after this review, the others will be spoiler filled.

Sherlock Series 3 REVIEW

 

 

Ever since I started watching Sherlock three years ago, I’ve been hooked. Furthermore, I remember every episode, which either shows you that it had some kind of effect on me, or it’s maybe just because there have only been 9 episodes in total… Come on guys, I see that it must take a long time to make but a two year wait between each series? Seriously?

Anyway, I’ll just do a quick recap of my opinion of the first two series’. Series 1 sold the idea to me from the get-go. Excellent acting, writing, plot-lines, mysteries, characterisation, etc. It ticked all the boxes. The quality of the first made me trepidacious about the second, but I was surprised – the second series even topped the first! For me anyway, with the prefect introduction to Irene Adler and a fantastic plot-arc with Moriarty, Holmes’ arch nemesis. Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, as played by the now Hollywood heavy weights Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman, are undeniably great in their roles.

Be warned, there are spoilers from previous seasons of the show in the following review. 

The Empty Hearse: The first episode of Series 3 was very enjoyable, even if it didn’t have the almost integral structure of the show – the case-file was sidelined for characterisation and dispelling any fan theory’s about Sherlock’s faked death. It opened with a superbly realised sequence, in which we see a fan of Sherlock’s idea about how he survived the fall at the end of series 2. That’s one thing that people tend to overlook in this show – the direction and cinematography are both stunning. The writing in this episode is smart and sharp, as per, and the acting from all the cast is top notch. The same goes for all episodes, so that I don’t have to keep repeating myself. John’s wife was also a very good edition (played by actress Amanda Abbington, Freeman’s real life partner!). The terrorist mystery however was not very interesting, as it was completely over-shadowed by Sherlock’s characterisation, which is partly a good thing as that aspect was very interesting, even if it didn’t lead to anything. It was great to see it back, but if you were to dissect it, you would probably see that it was one of the weakest episodes yet because of it’s lack of plot. But even then, it was pretty awesome. 8/10

The Sign of Three: A heart-felt episode, which tells the story of John and Mary’s wedding, with a twist!… That I won’t spoil here. I’ll just say that a lot of plot-strands come together, in a way which mostly pays of. The problem with the pay off is that’s hastily explained, making the whole thing hard to understand if you weren’t paying the TV screen your utmost attention. It does have many great twists, which lead to nice wee character moments. Sherlock’s aspergers is also showcased well here, creating copious gloriously awkward moments. 9/10

His Last Vow: This final episode introduces a new adversary called Charles Augustus Magnusson, who is terrificly played by Danish actor Lars Mikkelson. In a scene near the beginning he licks an opponents face… If that doesn’t show you that he’s an intimidating and sickly baddie, then maybe the fact that he pees in Sherlock’s fireplace, as if claiming Sherlock’s property to be his probably will. This story has so many twists and turns, as finales usually do, that it’s hard to talk much about it without spoiling it. Sherlock’s love interest (not a major spoiler), from the previous episode is hilarious, and Mary, John’s wife, is given unexpected depth, which I loved. Benedict Cumberbatch’s parents also appear Sherlock’s parents, which was cool. This was the best of the bunch for me. BBC drama at it’s finest. 10/10

I hope it won’t be 2 years till I review the next series…