VividSimon Simply Perfect

Mjeteconer Just perfect...

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

not-gates Well shot and acted and all that, but if you think you're going to get a remotely satisfying ending with this trilogy, be forewarned. I signed up for IMDb just so I could vent at how much bulls#@!$ this final piece is. Not only does it plod along, it plods along to almost nowhere (there's a small amount of resolution), and then just kind of ends. All of the protagonists in this one are weak, and things descend into lubricious melodrama, that, on top of that, is completely implausible. Don't waste your time.Just because something is "gritty" and deals with extreme themes does not make it good. And just because a story has the "guts" to not allow for happy endings or catharsis, does not make the evil characters' actions logically plausible. The whole conspiracy in this series would be so difficult to pull off as to disallow suspension of disbelief. It's like the writer was like "we're edgy, we'll make it so that barely any justice ever happens to show that sometimes the good guys don't win. Damn, we are so raw!" But ignore how reality actually works.Damn, this mini-series (especially this installment) made me angry. I wish I could see it walking down the street so I could punch it in the face. Repeatedly.

Rockwell_Cronenberg After the nonstop dark intensity of 1974, 1980 plays things a lot more reserved and close to the chest. Like it's predecessor, this one opens up by throwing us right in the middle of a serial murder case, led this time by Paddy Considine's Peter Hunter, and then slowly delves more into the world of corruption within the Yorkshire police force. Whereas the first film took us into this terrifying world through the eyes of a journalist, here we are right in the middle of the police, studying the corrupt within the force along with those outside of it.Director James Marsh gives the film a sharp, stated tone that does a great job of putting us in the shoes of Hunter. We suspect everyone and everything, even those closest to him. When he's talking to fellow officers, we feel that all of them are dirty, especially the ones higher up on the ladder. The individual case for this film is the Yorkshire Ripper and the film makes a compelling race for Hunter and his team to bring this man to justice. However, the more interesting aspect of the film is when we get to see Hunter dealing with the corruption within the force.After the climatic events that concluded 1974, we see that Hunter was the one who investigated the epic shootout and made a lot of enemies when he dug into corruption within the force. There is always this looming danger surrounding Hunter throughout and Considine plays his brave paranoia expertly. He keeps his emotions just under the surface, a very reserved protagonist to counteract Andrew Garfield's explosive one in the first feature. The film as a whole is much more subdued than 1974 and it works well.1980 is a real slow-burner, which makes the picture slightly less compelling at the start but builds and builds into a final act that is intensely gripping. The final fifteen minutes had my heart racing like a maniac, with a powerful final twist. It's left me very hungry for more, I'm eagerly looking forward to finishing the trilogy.

Leofwine_draca The second part of the RED RIDING trilogy takes up the storyline three years later. The eventual capture of the Yorkshire Ripper, Peter Sutcliffe, serves to muddy the waters of investigation but a new detective aims to get to the bottom of the conspiracy.It's like the first film, but not. This is more of a police procedural, which may well be because of the detective lead (Considine gives a solid performance here). Once again, police corruption is the order of the day as we finally learn just how deep it goes.It suffers a little from being the middle film in a trilogy - thus only a few loose ends are tied up here - but makes up for that with an ultra-frightening performance from Sean Harris (ISOLATION) as one of the most disturbed coppers you'll ever see on screen.

lost-in-limbo After the events that occurred in the first chapter, the second entry sees things take place six years later, but what happened then still seems to be creating a ripple effect now. Detective Peter Hunt is assigned to take charge of a covert investigation inspecting the West Yorkshire police's handling of the Yorkshire ripper case (this is where the writers excellently let the fiction get caught amongst the true facts of this infamous case). However what he uncovers is something much more damaging about one of the Ripper's supposed victims, which leads him down the path of inside corruption and cover-ups. Chapter 1980 is even better and a little more straight-forward and steady in its story-telling, despite some fragmented passages (re-examining past dealings) in a narrative that mainly focuses on the police/and their questionable actions than say the victims/outsiders like in the first film. This gives an angle that those people investigating a truly swimming with sharks, as if their interference is nothing more than a hindrance that they will only find themselves in over their heads amongst unwanted turmoil and their own personal problems will get in their way. Although the victims are still just as important in the scheme of things and uncovering what's really going on. The murky story manages to hold you, as when you think it's going to plan as you go on to connect the dots it piles on the biting twists leading to betrayal and murder. You feel like your peering in, as its serious and blunt trappings just evoke such an authentic feel that this could happen which makes it even more unsettling, although it doesn't quite match the punch of the first film. Still it ends on quite a stomach turning note (not visually speaking, but how it pans out) and final image with the flighty score leaves a haunting mark. In all it's the conniving nature that shocks, even if the violence has a sledgehammer intensity and exposition. However it tends to describe the horrific violence, than let the viewer actually glimpse it. Director James Marsh's streamlined handling is glum and leisured, but slickly sterile as it hypnotically takes you along with its methodical camera-work and expressively tantalizing music score. He paints a shady air, where the strong script delves within the weight-filled characters and interlocking revelations. The performances might come across typically sullen, but still superbly genuine. Paddy Considine's commendably dedicated performance is mesmerizing as he harbours good and bad elements to his weary character Peter Hunt. Everyone seems to be forsaken is some shape. The cast again put in another sensational effort. Maxine Peak stands out and so does the likes of Sean Harris, Tony Pitts, David Morrissey and Warren Clarke.