Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

Being a big fan of the series as it is one of many things that me and my Granddad bond over, and is a great series that i just find myself re-watching over and over again, that when they announced this movie that was supposed to conclude the series I was ecstatic, but then i noticed that something was missing from the original Television series the charm.although the cast are well established actors none of them fit the rolesToby Jones: pales in comparison to Arthur Lowe, he's obviously too thin to play the role and has too much hair to play Captain Manwaring and isn't anywhere near as stubborn as the role should be.Bill Nighy: whilst more physically suited to play Sgt Wilson, he's much too rough in his performance to carry the charm and kindness that John Le Mesurier brought to the role.Tom Courtenay: whilst his physical appearance as Cpl Jones is the best of the cast, it's obvious they're trying to desperately to channel Clive Dunn and it does get annoying after a while.Bill Paterson: His physical appearance doesn't make me thing of John Laurie at all, he looks too young to play Pvt Frazer as he has colour in his hair and is obviously too thin and looks too short to play the role.Daniel Mays: I was looking forward to seeing how they'd replace Pvt Walker as after James Beck passed away in the middle of the shows run, I wanted to see how they'd try and carry on the Character, his Physical appearance is a bit too chubby and they removed his quips that brought the character to life.Michael Gambon: Whilst I find that he's my favorite of the cast compared to Arnold Ridley he is pale in comparison, but he is the best acted of the entire cast and is the most faithful, the only problem is that he's a bit too fat for the role and doesn't look as gentle as Pvt Godfrey should.Blake Harrison: Personally I felt that they only cast Blake Harrison so as a younger audience would be interested in the film, whilst he looks similer to Ian Lavender, I feel in acting due to his previous stint as Neil on the inbetweeners, I couldn't take him seriously as Pvt Pike, the main problem i have with his characterization, is that they took his hobby of Film watching and used it for his character arc, which made him seem annoying.Martin Savage: Whilst Bill Pertwee wasn't a main character on the series he was still a defining part and in this film ARP Warden Hodges is criminally underused, he's never seen at grips with Manwaring at all throughout the film.Frank Williams: The one thing they did right was not replace one of the few actors who could still carry on and that was Frank Williams as the vicar, he brings warmth to whatever seen he's in and is a great screen presence for the fans.Considering that the Film is meant to be a sequel to the series, they do a shoddy job of making it seem like it:.The Platoon is now only 12 members instead of 17 .Godfrey Carries a riffle which after becoming the Medic he ceases to do soand these are just the continuity problems, whilst you'd expect to have a great title sequence with "who do you think you're kidding Mr Hitler" playing, they instead decide to copy the Credits of the original series and have the actors walk through the woods, but they fail to even capture the feel of the homage, by showing front views and not the angles of the original.Even series stables are broken, the catchphrases are either left out or show horned in, and one of the series long running and best jokes Mrs Manwaring is removed and she's instead shown on screen when she should just be a an unseen menace to Captain Manwaring.The Film steals many plot points from the Show, and whilst you may think that's good, it's lazy in comparison to the classic originals, i'm surprised they didn't shoe horn in the "don't tell em pike" bit for good measure.I would recommend avoiding this Film if you're a fan of the series like myself and want to see a great ending to the series, i'd suggest that you avoid this movie and imagine something better.

If you thought "Ghostbusters" was tragic, check this one out.Want to know what one of the most recent cinematic revivals is? Dad's Army. You guessed it. It has been brought back to the big screen for the second time after 45 years, but except this time it's a reboot. Is this the chance for us to revisit one of the greatest comedies of all time? Well this is sadly not the case because Dad's Army 2016, a film I personally had high expectations for, is a crushing disappointment.We begin with Captain Mainwaring and his crew are secretly searching for something lurking in the wilderness. During this scene we get a title sequence that pays direct homage to the end credits of the original show and it's nostalgically impressive. From this very moment on, we're offered a handful of comedy sketches that often fall flat in execution. You can clearly tell the actors are working their socks off to try and make these gags work, but the majority of them fail to land. The laughter track has been obviously omitted so we as the audience have to fill in the job. If there is nothing much here to laugh at then how can this be set in stone? There is one scene where the slapstick works and it's funny, then we're immediately treated with the same material as before. What was Hamish McColl, one of the writers of the ironically better "Johnny English Reborn", really thinking when he wrote this?Toby Jones plays an acceptable Mainwaring, bringing back the slick witty mannerisms of Arthur Lowe's efforts. Tom Courtenay achieves as Corporal Jones but sadly can't quite resurrect Clive Dunn's memorable absurd goofiness. The Inbetweeners' Blake Harrison shines as Pike that would do Ian Lavender proud. But sometimes a cast has a downfall, and sadly here there is one: Bill Nighy. He plays more Bill Nighy than his character Sgt Wilson, dawdling around the classic scenery with a face expressionlessly boring enough to put John Le Mesurier to sleep. He puts on the derivative technique of lazily expressing emotions, making the iconic supporting character an unlikable one altogether. There is one scene where he wakes up after a rough night all dazed and confused but in a way that looks like he hasn't read his lines properly. Stupid boy!It's surprising that there are only a very few things they achieve at. It's shot on film that makes the scenery look retro which is a starter towards success. The production and costume design are seamlessly spot-on, capturing exactly what Generation X grew up watching. This is a perfect callback alongside everything else that isn't.It's all so shockingly dull that you wonder how unfamiliar the filmmakers were with the original show. Director Oliver Parker and his collaborators manage to strike gold with the cinematography, costume and production design but the slapstick humour and nostalgic flair are almost nowhere to be found. It has a strong ensemble cast, including Catherine Zeta-Jones, but that's overall not enough to enliven this adaptation up to the bar raised by its classic counterpart.Luckily this doesn't ruin my affection for the show, it just makes me want to watch the sitcom more to get this abomination out of my head.

I wanted to like 'Dads' Army'. I really did. It features some of my favourite British character actors, and brings to the big screen one of my favourite TV shows. Unfortunately, it's awful from start to finish. The slapstick is over-done and unsubtly telegraphed, the pacing uneven (verging on the near comatose, at times), the cinematography unimaginative, and – unforgivably, given the wealth of material they had as inspiration – the script is unbearably weak. Bill Nighy and Tom Courtney look unutterably bored, and Bill Paterson barely seems to have noticed that the camera is rolling. Michael Gambon and Toby Jones are clearly trying to make the best of a bad job, but they are aping the characterisations and physical mannerisms of Ridley and Lowe...and I expect better - MUCH better - from actors of their calibre. Awful. If they upped the pace and spent less time trying to add needless detail to the characters' back-stories (did we, for example, really NEED to see the good Captain's wife? – she had much more comic worth as an off-screen gorgon!) it might have been bearable. It isn't.Stupid boys!

Given that the BBC sitcom Dad's Army is still so revered after all these decades means that any film adaptation with almost an all new cast will be on a hiding to nothing.The film still has the upside down focus between Captain Mainwaring and Sergeant Wilson. The former a fastidious Little Englander bank manager. The latter, a more urbane and charming public school educated subordinate as well as a womaniser.The plot involves the Nazi's sending a secret spy to Walmington on Sea to discover the Allies D-Day plans. She is Catherine Zeta Jones masquerading as a glamorous journalist claiming to write a feature on the Home Guard. She charms most of the men in the town particularly Sgt Wilson who she knows from her days at University.The film introduces more female characters including Mrs Mainwaring and Private Godfrey's sisters who play a pivotal role in unmasking the spy.There are some inspired scenes where Mainwaring gets mistaken for Winston Churchill. I admit to being surprised to see Frank William's pop up again as the Vicar and Ian Lavender also turns up playing a different character.Toby Jones does well as Mainwaring maybe channelling Arthur Lowe. Bill Nighy comes off even more posh than John Le Mesurier and I felt that his character did not even belong as Mainwaring's number two.Tom Courtenay was underwhelming as Jones, Michael Gambon was spot on as Godfrey.The character's go through the popular catchphrases and even the theme tune turns up several times but the retread is just too workmanlike and lacked imagination.The film was too uneven, as a gentle comedy it was fine but at times it strays into smutty farce which is more Carry On especially in the scene where Fraser moons at the Nazis.