FILM REVIEW: The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

As year draws to its close, we’re due to embark on yet another journey to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. All of that thanks to director Peter Jackson and The Battle of the Five Armies, the third chapter of his The Hobbit trilogy. In what is supposed to be a final film ever set in his fictional land (unlikely!) our Dwarven, Elven and Human characters are entangled in a massive conflict over the control of Erebor and hearth stored under the Lonely Mountain. Friendships are being tested, blood being shed, lessons learned. Virtually everything one can expect from grand finale like this.

It is, of course, naïve and unrealistic to expect that this film will rectify and reverse everything wrong about two previous chapters. Indeed, The Battle of the Five Armies suffers from many of the sins these films were plagued by – choppy narrative, bloated running time, an unnecessarily excessive use of computer graphics, uneven pacing. However, what where it does exceed is in its increased focus on single narrative, probably for the very first time in The Hobbit trilogy. It feels less scattered around, largely due to it being set mostly in one location. The board for ensuing conflict was set already by The Desolation of Smaug and there is no exposition as such. And that is something quite new for Peter Jackson’s Tolkien adaptations.

Another strong point is an emphasis on character development and interactions, an ingredient criminally absent from both An Unexpected Journey and The Desolation of Smaug, save for a few cursory elements. In The Battle of the Five Armies, the execution of those elements might still be somewhat clunky but at least it’s there. Both Richard Armitage and Martin Freeman rise to the occasion and provide their characters with some emotion. Bilbo, curiously underused in a series of films revolved around his character, finally gets to fulfil a role in those and adding some necessary good-natured hobbit warmth into the grim plotline. At the same time, Armitage gets to expand upon both gloomy and warm aspects of Thorin Oakenshield as he’s battling his inherited greedy sickness. The usual suspects Ian McKellen is always a joy to watch on screen and his Gandalf definitely doesn’t disappoint, as expected.

What doesn’t work quite so well, however, is the battle spectacle itself. While all Tolkien-based films used CGI heavily to help enhance epic struggles portrayed on screen, there is a sense that The Battle of the Five Armies was filmed almost entirely in front of green screen. Gone are the breathtaking and lovely landscapes of New Zealand. It’s hard to care for an hour of swarming animated characters fighting other animated characters, with occasional shots of live actors swing a sword once or twice. There’s hardly any drama or tension in that and Middle-earth feels smaller than ever.

What’s even more frustrating, it turns out that many plot points and characters from previous two films were introduced for absolutely no reason. Sylvester McCoy, so prominently featured as Radagast in An Unexpected Journey, barely makes a cameo in both subsequent films. Same with Mikael Persbrandt’s Beorn. One has to wonder why Peter Jackson even bothered including those two, given their contribution to the overall story is quite minimal and could have been achieved in more efficient ways. On the other hand, the completely new Elven character of Tauriel, as played by Evangeline Lilly, could have used an expansion. Fortunately, Luke Evans’ Aragorn-inspired Bard the Bowman and Lee Pace’s Thranduil get a lot more screen time this time and this film is so much better for it.

Technically, The Battle of the Five Armies is adequate but strangely unpolished in some areas. Many of the effects seem unfinished and unconvincing, especially the opening fiery destruction of Lake-town and climactic confrontation between Thorin and pale orc Azog. The musical score by Howard Shore, such a crucial ingredient of The Lord of the Rings, is an accomplished and intelligent as ever but feels lost and neglected in overcrowded sound mix. Editorially, this film feels a bit awkward and uneven, as did the previous two. It will be interesting to see if the extended cut, due late next year, will change that.

The final chapter in Peter Jackson’s six-film series is ultimately successful in its basic entertainment factor but it falls short as a piece of epic fantasy cinema. The ultimate failure of The Hobbit trilogy is not as painful as the one suffered by Star Wars fans a decade ago but there’s an undeniable sense that something went terribly wrong in the development process. Still, strong performances from excellent cast and significantly tighter and focused narrative make up for many shortcomings.

- Karol

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TV REVIEW: Fargo - A Muddy Road

The third episode of Fargo opens with a flashback, allowing us to see just how the frozen dead man in his underpants got into the boot of Lorne's car. It's another fine example of the cold, quiet humour that the show has developed as Lorne (Billy Bob Thornton) appears silently at the end of the row of office cubicles before dragging the man out by his tie. After the titles, we're returned to the present day as Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) continues to look into his death whilst Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) admits to his superiors that he had Lorne in his sights that night but let him go with a warning. Meanwhile, Lorne has decided to get in on the Stavros Milos (Oliver Platt) blackmail himself as Lester (Martin Freeman) returns to work.

Over the course of the two episodes so far, various narrative threads, with parallels and crossovers between each, have been established with only figure connecting all of them. As malevolent presences go (his name alone is a suggestion of this), Lorne Malvo is a seemingly unstoppable and unpredictable one. We have yet to learn his agenda or who he is working for, if indeed he is working for anyone. The kidnap of the businessman seemed to suggest he is, but the blackmail plot offers up an alternative as it seems Lorne is working towards his own ideas there. His slow, steady torture of Stavros Milos (Oliver Platt) gets considerably worse over the course of the episode ending, quite literally, in a shower of blood. It's an icky, skin-crawlingly awful moment and one that reveals more of a picture of Lorne; his delight in torturing people is not limited to the simple mind-games he played with the Hess family, but extends to a macabre theatricality.

Lorne is also central to the investigation into Lester Nygaard, despite the police chief's continual denial of this fact. Deputy Solverson, who should soon be everyone's favourite character if she isn't already, is edging ever closer and finally establishes a connection between the two men in this episode. It brings her into contact with a parallel charact, Gus Grimly, as he drives over from Duluth to apologise for letting Lorne get away. Their dinner is pretty much an embodiment of the various aspects of Fargo; adorably sweet one minute as Gus wonders if Molly's nice and grotesque the next as Molly tells the story of flesh-bursting spider-eggs. The three actors, including Joey King as Greta, had a lovely chemistry in this scene and has made look forward to the inevitable moment in which Gus joins the investigation in Bemidji to aid in Molly's pursuit of Lester.

Out all of the disparate moments in this week's episode, it is probably Lester's that resonate the most. His arc over the course of the season so far has been one slow descent into guilt-ridden nervousness and he begins the episode in much the same way. He returns to work and is immediately faced with having to deliver insurance papers to the Hess family. Easily one of the funniest scenes of the episode, Lester is faced with Mrs Hess' legs as she not only demands to know when she gets her money, but propositions him for good measure. The nerves continue as he deals with the cut on his hand, a festering reminder of his guilt that is clearly infecting him both literally and metaphorically. Shortly after his meeting with Numbers and Wrench and then another with Molly in which he fails to convince anyone that he's a good lier, Lester looks ready to snap.

And snap he does, but not necessarily in a way we were expecting. Lester's narrative in this episode ends with him firing off a massive gun with his brother, a look of manic delight etched across his face. Lester may have invoked our sympathies in the first episode up until beating his wife to death with a hammer, but his path ever since has been a descent to the dark side, prompted by his relationship with Lorne. However, Lester is clearly not as good as Lorne at this career criminal thing and it's going to end badly, that much is all but confirmed now. What will be interesting is just who Lester takes down with him in the process.

Despite only one dog-related death, this episode of Fargo manages to be its bloodiest yet. Conversely, it also happens to be its sweetest. Watching Lorne weave through the people of Bemidji and set a large majority of them up for a fall is fast becoming compulsive and all the more compelling given we don't know why he is doing it. 

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of the previous episode, The Rooster Prince, here.

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TV REVIEW: Fargo - The Rooster Prince

Lester (Martin Freeman) is still reeling from having killed his wife and giving himself a traumatic head injury to cover up his part in that murder and the one of the police chief. Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tolman) is sure he's involved somewhere along the line in those murders as well as the earlier murder of his childhood bully, Sam Hess. However, she faces increased resistance from the new Chief (Bill Odenkirk) as well as Lester himself. In Duluth, Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) is tormented by his inaction when faced with Lorne (Billy Bob Thornton) and is attempting to justify his continue silence. Whilst all of this is going on, Lorne is sorting out a blackmail problem for local supermarket magnate, Stavros Milos (the wonderful, needs-to-be-in-more-scenes Oliver Platt).

The second episode of Fargo widens the playing field considerably, furthering the action in the little town of Bemidji alongside that of the Duluth subplots. It means the cast of characters increases and the plots are becoming slightly labyrinthine. As such, this episode is taken over slightly by the need to establish these various narrative strands and develop the characters within them. In doing so, it loses a little of the humour and darkness that made the opening episode such a joy, but the macabre atmosphere remains and there's a level of knowing throughout Fargo that ensures it is still enjoyable.

Much of this comes from the arrival of two men from Fargo, Mr Numbers and Mr Wrench (Adam Goldberg and Russell Harvard, respectively). Clearly a nod to Peter Stormare and Steve Buscemi's characters from the original Fargo film, Numbers and Wrench are cut from the same cloth as Lorne. Calm and disquieting, they also do very little to impose on those people around them and yet impose they do. In a nice nod to their cinematic counterparts, Wrench is deaf and the pair communicate in sign language (often at the expense of characters also in the conversation) in contrast to the verbosity of Stormare and Buscemi. This silence that exists between them, operating on another level of communication to the rest of Bemidji, builds up the enigma that is Fargo in this series.

The widening narrative also offers expansion in other areas. The first episode was tasked with place setting, introducing the characters, their surroundings and their backgrounds for the audience, as well as simultaneously aligning and distancing itself from the Coen brothers' film. Now that the characters and world in which they operate has largely been established, Noah Hawley becomes a little more ambitious in creating a work that is both satisfying at the level of plot, but also one that is multi-layered and explorable on a thematic level.

Violence is endemic in this society and something which the residents of Bemidji (and the wider Minnesotan area) don't seem to be all that aware of. Adam Bernstein's direction collaborates brilliantly with the characters' obliviousness by utilising the background to demonstrate just how surrounded by violence and death these figures are. The background of Lorne's meeting with Stavros about his failing marriage is a man butchering animals. During the conversation between Lester and his brother, Lester's nephew is seen playing with a gun on the stairs in a moment of supposed normality. Throughout these two episodes, there has been a constant juxtaposition between violence and domesticity, just like this one. Lester's murderous act takes place because he can't fix the washing machine. The Hess boys fight outside the family home. The presence of Lorne may have been the catalyst for actual violence occurring, but it's clear that Bemidji has always had its issues.

With this emphasis on the clash between violence and domesticity, there's also an intriguing depiction of gender roles going on here, particularly Gus looking after his daughter whilst having to take big moral decisions and Molly Solverson, striving to work hard in an environment everyone keeps telling her she shouldn't be in. Molly is consistently belittled and reminded of her gender by those around her, even her father. Allison Tolman's performance is excellent, capturing both the optimism and cynicism necessary for this role. Molly is extremely determined to catch her man, yet is constantly at war with the system around her that decides she isn't supposed to get that far ahead. Following Frances McDormand in the Marge Gunderson type role is no easy feat, but Tolman has that same steeliness about her character that made Marge so wonderful.

It may not have been quite as dark or bizarre as the first episode, but The Rooster Prince still maintains that macabre gallows humour and great performances that kicked it off. It's exceeding my expectations so far and I'm sincerely hoping it's a momentum that can be maintained right the way through.

- Becky

You can reading Becky's review of the previous episode, The Crocodile's Dilemma, here.

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TV REVIEW: Fargo - The Crocodile's Dilemma

Set as a ten episode limited series, Fargo opens in Bemidji, Minnesota, with a car accident involving the mysterious Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) and a man in his underwear trapped in the boot, who later freezes to death attempting to run away whilst Lorne wanders into town. The Bemidji police begin  to investigate with Chief Thurman (Shawn Doyle) and Deputy Molly Solverson (Allison Tollman) taking the lead. Meanwhile, Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman) is dealing with his nagging wife Pearl (Kelly Holden Bashar) and the school bully, Sam Hess (Kevin O'Grady) returning to punch him in the face. However, a chance meeting with Lorne in the hospital waiting room sets off a chain of events which Lester had only begun to fantasise about.

The Coen Brothers' 1996 film Fargo is widely regarded as one of their masterpieces, a dark blend of murder, Minnesota and Marge Gunderson, Frances McDormand's heavily pregnant heroine. When a TV series based on the film was announced, it was met with equal parts quiet optimism and cynicism. Part of an ongoing trend of seeing films adapted into television series, of which Bates' Motel and Hannibal are the most popular examples, it was easy to dismiss Fargo as merely riding the wave and using the name of a beloved property to draw in viewers. Thankfully, however, the first episode manages to allay some of those fears with a deliciously dark opening episode.

There are still plenty of ties to the Coen Brothers' original film, but Noah Hawley's screenplay uses it as more of a framework to reference and gain ideas from. Like the film, the action doesn't actually take place in Fargo; it operates as a sort of dark place on the horizon where bad people come from. Similar plot points are in play (the sadsack insurance salesman getting in with criminals, a car crash to investigate etc.) as well as characters clearly using their cinematic counterparts for inspiration, but neither feel ripped off or stolen from the film, but rather operate as homages. There's even a Big Lebowski nod in there for the eagle-eyed Coens fan. 

The real strength in Hawley's screenplay lies in his ability to capture the tone of the film and the Coen Brothers' ear for whipsmart dialogue. The Bemidji police offer up a lot of laughs, particularly Bill Odenkirk's squeamish Deputy Oswalt, a man who can't face a crime scene for fear of losing his wife's spaghetti dinner. Then there is Billy Bob Thornton's Lorne, a disarmingly calm man with a penchant for knowing the rules of the motel before paying for a room there (his conversation with the concierge is a highlight). He acts as a sort of evil Puck figure, manipulating situations and people for his own ends, taking it upon himself to help Lester out with his Sam Hess problem and messing around with the family for fun.

However, Lorne also functions as the episode's line between black humour and outright malevolence. Thornton's calm performance is immediately sinister and his reactions to things around him are wonderfully deadpan. It's a scene towards the end of the episode in which this is showcased brilliantly; it's a face off between Lorne and Duluth police officer Gus Grimly (Colin Hanks) that is a masterclass in tension-building because it is impossible to interpret the scene's direction. With Lorne around, the tone shifts from outright comedy to suspense quickly and dangerously, offering an unpredictability that never quite lets the audience settle.

The casting of Martin Freeman as Lester Nygaard also proves to be a masterstroke. The bewildered expression has been so perfected by Freeman across his career that he really ought to trademark it, but here it is replaced with one of despair. Utterly downtrodden by his life and family, Lester is the kind of man you root for in these situations, willing him to stand up and take action against those who would demean him. Which, of course, Lester does, but not quite in the way you want him to. The moment he takes a hammer to his wife's head (in such a cheery, slapstick fashion) is the big shock of the episode, another point at which you go from laughter to shock to nervous laughter so fast it makes your head spin like the Nygaard's washing machine.

With a body count that's already alarmingly high, Fargo has set the tone for its upcoming instalments quickly and effectively.. It's a dark, bizarre delight that also happens to be riotously funny and I can't wait to see where Hawley takes it next. 

- Becky

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TV REVIEW: Sherlock - His Last Vow

It's been one week since the swishy-coated detective and partner last graced our screens and we're all missing him already. In lieu of a full, in-depth review, we have decided to take you through our conversation following last week's finale, a glimpse at our thoughts if you will. As ever, there are spoilers (and if you have avoided any until now, please accept a generous round of applause).

Becky: If people were worried that Sherlock was becoming too light and fluffy, then surely they must have had their fears eased with this deliciously dark episode, as twisty turny as a twisty turny thing. There were plenty of things I sort of expected (Mary) and plenty of things I didn't (yes, Jim, I did miss you). But overall, what struck me most about this episode was how well the first two in the series built up to it. The time taken to really cement the relationship between John and Sherlock, as well as the addition of Mary, ensured that the second any one of them found themselves in jeopardy, I was a bit of a wreck. 

Jen: Personally I always enjoy a little bit of light and fluffy, but I do understand that this isn't necessarily what one would traditionally either expect or want from a modern re-imagining of a classic detective drama about a clever man incapable of normal social interaction, so in that sense this final episode did rather bring us back on track. Albeit at the eleventh hour. Totally agree about the development of Mary and John's relationship, although I have to admit I was just the teensiest bit disappointed that she didn't go totally rogue and become the villain of the series. But maybe I have just have a dark imagination? Speaking of both dark imaginations and villains, beyond delighted to see the return of Moriarty. He's my favourite, ever.

B: I'm fairly certain that it won't be Moriarty we see back though. Sherlock's resurrection (however it happened) was no mean feat and I'm not sure even Moffat and Gatiss could make lightening strike twice. Perhaps a mastermind using Moriarty to bring Sherlock back into the fold? Speaking of masterminds, how damn cool was Charles Augustus Magnusson? Talk about your skincrawlingly dastardly villain. I'm honestly not sure which was worse; the licking of the face or the flicking of the face? I would have loved to have seen more of him, he was wonderfully intimidating and seemed like such a good foil for Sherlock. I loved that they each had their own version of a mind palace but used them in ways befitting their status.

J: It will be Moriarty, Becky. It will. That is what I am telling and myself and will continue to do so. Agree that lightning doesn't usually strike twice, however I think now that they've brought Sherlock himself back to life, almost anything could happen. Didn't Moriarty keep popping back to life in the books or have I misremembered that? Magnusson was indeed creepy. He was just so rude! That was the main thing I took away from him. Also, that I would like a mind palace. I LOVED the parts when Sherlock was dead, and re-living all the useful bits of information from previous conversations and scenes. 

B: Moriarty dies at the Reichenbach Falls so there's no real precedent for bringing him back. 

Yes the mind palace with Sherlock was such a great piece of film-making, not only dramatically, but technically too; it worked just as well as the onscreen graphics for Sherlock's deducting. I also loved how he used people around him and it added another dimension to the character. He may not be able to show how much he admires them very well in reality, but they all occupy a special place in his head ready to save his life when he needs them. That being said, he also managed to re-assert his utter bastard status with poor Janine. I did that horrible nervous  laugh when he proposed through the camera with that terrifying grin.

J: Is the fact that I love him not enough of a reason? But yes fair enough.

I actually really liked Janine, I particularly enjoyed the way she got her own back on him with her kiss and tell stories to the press, and the way Sherlock reacted to it with something not unlike admiration. I much preferred her to The Woman, in fact I'd quite like to see her again, but I'm not too sure we will. Definitely a great character episode all in all, with a bit more in the way of a sleuth plot than we've seen recently. 

B: I did like that final scene with Janine, the pair had a really nice chemistry. And yes, the character beats worked very well along side the sleuthy aspect. Martin Freeman in particular has been just fantastic this series and broke my heart on more than one occasion. Cumberbatch does get the more demonstrative role, but Freeman puts in a hell of a lot of work as the more reserved half and their relationship felt so much deeper this series than it has I think before, primarily because we have spent so much time with them for the first couple of episodes.

Final verdicts then?

J: Final verdicts, hmm. I think a strong and satisfying end to a great series, one which really stretched the characters and took the show to new emotional levels. My prevailing thought however, is that yes, I did miss Jim, and I think Sherlock did, too. 

B: If it is him (and I'm still not so sure), then it's going to have to be one hell of an explanation to bring him back. But yes, I agree, it's been a different series to the previous too, no doubt, but it's moved everything in a very interesting direction and I can't wait to see what happens next.

- Jen and Becky

You can read Jen's review of The Sign of Three here and Becky's look at The Empty Hearse here.

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TV REVIEW: Sherlock - The Sign of Three

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? Bad, right. Well the bad news is that, currently resting on the far side of episode 2 as we are, we only have one episode in the current series of Sherlock left. I know, I can’t believe it either. The good news though, is that if episode 3 is even half as good as episode 2, it’ll be an absolute corker.

The Sign of Three saw Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) face a case he never thought possible- the curious case of the unwritten best man’s speech. Having sort of proposed to Mary (Amanda Abbington) in the previous episode, albeit dramatically diverted at the time by the re-appearance of his supposedly dead best friend, John Watson (Martin Freeman)’s wedding day has now arrived. This has left a desperate Sherlock in the tricky situation of having to not only write an entire speech in which he must emotionally connect with a room full of tissue ready wedding guests, but, crucially, this is a situation in which he must act normal, and not like a ‘high functioning sociopath’ for an entire day. Premise established, the episode proceeds to use said speech as a vehicle for well -timed flashbacks on the adventures of groom and best man, from the stag do to an invisible man to a womanising ghost. As the speech trundles on, taking us from laughter to tears in minutes, so too do the stories of the different cases, until Sherlock’s dramatic and somewhat inevitable conclusion that a crime, a murder no less, has been planned for this very day, in this very room.

For now, however, back to the speech. Despite the fact that the speech itself transpired to be nothing short of a masterpiece, touchingly delivered and utterly true to the relationship of the three characters involved, Sherlock’s speech making skills are met with, at best, concern. Perhaps well founded given his previous behaviour towards any member of the opposite sex John has shown an interest in. Mrs Hudson Sherlock’s long suffering landlady, played with a splendid warmth and simplicity, as ever, by Una Stubbs, finds the concept of Sherlock talking about a subject other than grisly homicide in front of so many rapt, normal people so hilarious that she can’t get passed the idea of him reading out the telegrams without breaking down in fits of laughter so over the top she sounds like a woodland bird being poked with something hot and pointy, to paraphrase. Sherlock himself isn’t entirely thrilled with the situation either, with even Watson failing to notice how ‘terrified’ the detective clearly is.

Happily, it falls to the tremendously likeable Mary to save the day, as she cunningly plays the boys off against each other in order for them both to be re-assured that the wedding, and indeed life after it will all end happily, with both feeling all the while feeling comfortably superior that they are doing the other one a favour. A woman who can outsmart Sherlock and Watson to boot without having to take her dressing gown off? Nice. Very nice. In fact nice is exactly what Mary is. As I said a moment ago she really is very likeable. Not so much fortuitous as utterly crucial to the longevity of the series, the success of her character has clearly been meticulously discussed and planned to the nth degree. The requirements were probably something along the lines of, firstly, a character strong enough to hold her own when talking to the infamous sociopath as well as being a person in her own right, and finally not to mention somebody John Watson would want to marry. That’s a lot to achieve in the form of just one fiancée. Fortunately, the writing team, and indeed Amanda Abbington herself, more than achieve this.

I think it’s fair to say that her real life marriage to Martin Freeman goes some way towards making their on screen relationship work, too. The two have a warmth, ease and sense of fun about them on screen through which they manage to create that rare thing in TV partnerships – actual genuine seeming chemistry. Given how hand and glove-like Cumberbatch and Freeman’s performances fit each other, the latter’s relationship with his now wife really had to be absolutely spot on in order to have a chance at working. A fantastic performance here, too from Benedict Cumberbatch, who, whilst allowing us to see a more fragile, silly and ultimately more human side of the socially awkward sleuth remained 100% true to the man himself, even in this most uncharacteristic of situations.

The more detective-like elements of the episode were down played in favour of Sherlock’s old enemy, ‘sentiment’, which may well have angered some die-hard puzzle-solving fans, but for me there was just the right amount of background mystery and intrigue. It was as fascinating and mind-boggling as ever, but didn’t get in the way of either the hilarity of the stag-do flashbacks, in which we were treated to the rare and totally brilliant sight of a drunken Sherlock, nor the poignancy of the day itself and Sherlock’s heart felt congratulations and tributes to the happy couple.

It was the perfect, perfect mix of jokes, tears, laughter and excitement.  Just any wedding speech should be – although most don’t wind up with an attempted murder.

But then, that’s what you get when you pick Sherlock Holmes as your best man.

Jen

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TV REVIEW: Sherlock - The Empty Hearse

It's been two years since The Reichenbach Fall, but Sherlock has finally returned with a suitably witty and emotional first episode.

Sherlock (the character) has always swaggered about, confident in his own abilities and with a trademark, if often unintentional, biting wit. They are qualities that Sherlock the show has exhibited from its first episode; even A Study in Pink had an inbuilt confidence in its concept and execution thanks to Paul McGuigan's direction. The Empty Hearse was the most self-assured episode to date with Mark Gatiss' script revelling the impact of Sherlock's return and those around him, uniting them all into the big reveal one at a time.

In terms of the wider plot, Sherlock (Benedict Cumberbatch) has almost singlehandedly dismantled Moriarty's criminal network whilst being 'dead' only to find himself faced with his brother Mycroft (Mark Gatiss) in a jail cell. It turns out that there is a terror cell planning an imminent attack on London and Sherlock is required to help foil it. Returning to London, Sherlock is surprised to discover that not only has John Watson (Martin Freeman) moved on, but he is about to get engaged and has, shock horror, moved out of 221B. They are soon forced back together in the name of Mycroft's case, a seasonal plot to blow up Parliament, and the gang are once again reunited.

That confidence that I mentioned earlier permeated every aspect of The Empty Hearse, a fine return for everyone involved. Mark Gatiss' script was one of the wittiest yet, granted Cumberbatch and Freeman some truly brilliant lines. The editing was also nothing short of spectacular, particularly in the cross-cutting for Sherlock and Watson's respective scenes with clients and patients. It gave the episode a quick pace and a knowing air that never fell into arrogance, played with enough humour to keep it light whilst also allowing the more emotional moments to rise to the surface.

The restaurant scene was so beautifully played from the very beginning, not only allowing Benedict Cumberbatch to wheel out his comedy French accent, previously utilised to great effect in the radio series Cabin Pressure (and thus my customary plug for that show is worked in), but also for Martin Freeman to follow up that graveside speech with some of the best reactionary acting in the business. The balance between the comedy and the drama of the situation was perfectly pitched, allowing for the emotional resonance of John's reaction to hit the spot whilst the violent reactions, the changing locations and moustache-related running jokes to re-establish their relationship and the chemistry between the two actors.

It wasn't all about Watson though as Sherlock goes round, alerting his colleagues to his return. A particular favourite was his reunion with Lestrade which featured the best reaction, second only to Watson's. Rupert Graves is one of the unsung heroes of this series, absolutely sublime as the put-upon inspector who always finds himself a little sidelined. Elsewhere, Molly (Louise Brealey) as Sherlock's new sidekick allowed for some of the quieter moments of the episode as Gatiss rattled through seemingly as many textual references as he could. However, it was the expanded relationship with Mycroft that resonated most from the great visual joke of them playing Operation to the clear affection/antagonisation that they share.

These reunions also served to show how the two years on his own have taken their toll on Sherlock himself, as well as those around him. Throughout the series, he has displayed the lack of understanding when it comes to human relationships and does so here, incredulous when he discovers that John is no longer waiting for him to return. However, the fake Jack the Ripper scene has Sherlock hearing John's reactions to his comments and actions; there's a realisation here that he actually needs John by his side. Molly serves as a decent foil for a day, but that relationship isn't one based on challenging Sherlock, but adoring him (despite Molly's insistence that she has moved on). Likewise, in the final confrontation between Sherlock and John, he demonstrated his true reliance on John, but this being Sherlock, it couldn't be said in a genuine fashion, it had to be performed whilst he had the upper hand in knowing the bomb wouldn't go off.

The episode was easily the funniest it has been and acted almost as a love letter to the fans who had been kept waiting by the various delays in production. Anderson acted as the audience within the episode, the Sherlock fan with endless theories as to how he did it, pouring over angles of descent, Derren Brown and acts of derring do like flying through windows and kissing Molly. It was an affectionate nod to the endless, obsessive theorising that we've all gone through since The Reichenbach Fall (yours truly included) and, whilst it could have easily been a snarky swipe at all of us, it was clearly done with the greatest of appreciation. Fan fiction references even snuck in there with the scene with Moriarty on the roof which nodded towards the Moriarty-Sherlock shippers and allowed the brilliant Andrew Scott to return to the role, if only briefly.

Not having a definitive method of escape proved to be a masterstroke, allowing each and every member of the audience to cling on to their own personal theory or see it referenced in Anderson's group. It was probably the only way of dealing with the hype surrounding Sherlock's demise in a satisfying way and somehow, not actually knowing how he did it doesn't seem so awful, it just seems fitting for the character. If anything, the focus on Sherlock's return left the sub-plot about the terrorist attack a little underdone when compared to the rest of the episode, but The Empty Hearse was always going to be about re-establishing the central relationship, rather than having a complicated mystery to solve.

It certainly wasn't the strongest Sherlock episode in terms of driving the plot forward; the parliamentary explosion narrative seemed a little superfluous until the climactic scene in the underground train car. It served its purpose in getting John and Sherlock to be honest with each other in an extreme situation, but just felt a little underdone. The aspect I did like about it though was that it had Sherlock reaching for the most complicated answers when faced with the disappearing passenger or the underground network, only for it to be a ridiculously simple answer that he'd missed. Perhaps we might get slightly simpler mysteries in future, or at least ones whose explanations are a little more understandable.

Bringing Sherlock and Watson back after two years was always going to be a tough ask, but Gatiss managed it with aplomb, a fitting reunion for everyone and one which clearly has a huge amount of love for its audience. It's so good to have them back and with a new antagonist on the horizon too.

- Becky

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FILM REVIEW: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit who finds himself swept into an adventure with thirteen dwarves and a wizard, all seeking the lost land of Erebor, taken from them by a fearsome dragon.

Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) finds himself with a wizard (Sir Ian McKellen) and thirteen dwarves on his doorstep, led by the impressive Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage). Seeking to reclaim the lost land of Erebor in the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (Benedict Cumberbatch), the dwarves enlist Bilbo as a burglar and embark on a quest across Middle Earth that takes in trolls, goblins, a visit to Rivendell and an encounter with Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy) that hints that something evil may be rising in Middle Earth. Bilbo has his own personal encounters too, engaging in a riddle competition with Gollum (Andy Serkis) and finding a small gold ring that carries a mysterious power.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey appears nine years after we last saw Middle Earth on the big screen and has brought along its fair share of baggage. A film that very nearly didn't happen for various reasons, when Peter Jackson announced that The Hobbit was to be screened at 48 frames per second instead of industry standard 24 and then that it was to be three films as opposed to the afore-confirmed two, it's created quite the storm. I didn't see the film in 48fps, just in 3D, so I can't comment as to the effect that the increased frame rate has on the film. I will say though, that the 3D utilised here was the best I've seen, working to enhance the world of Middle Earth rather than detract from it. In fact, it almost made me think that 3D was a good idea. Almost. 

Then there's the issue of The Hobbit becoming a trilogy, despite being only one, quite small book. First of all, let's get the problems out of the way because unfortunately, there are a couple. Nothing major I grant you, but it was inevitable that with the extension into three films, there were going to be some pacing issues. The middle act slows down a little, keen to connect the current Middle Earth events to those of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The meeting of the White Council, in which Gandalf, Galadriel and Elrond meet with Saruman to discuss a potential rising evil, works well to establish plots of the later trilogy but unfortunately slows its own film down to a snail's pace.

The addition of other material doesn't necessarily always have the same effect. I really enjoyed the inclusion of dwarven history as helped to build a more complete picture of the dwarves' quest, adding an extra dimension to what could just seem like a fun jaunt to Erebor. Then there's the effect it has on the characters in the film, increasing their roles beyond the very brief sketches we get in the novel. It also enhances the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin Oakenshield, rather beautifully summed up in Bilbo's reasonings for remaining to help the dwarves on their quest. 

Now moving swiftly on to the positives, of which there are many. The Dol Guldur sequence with Radagast was a particular favourite of mine, packed full of visual and aural connections to the big brother trilogy and is a perfect example of one of the film's major highlights, the sound and Howard Shore's score. The new material is fantastic stuff, particularly the dwarves' theme which has been in my head ever since that first trailer was released last year and the choral fire-and-brimstone number during the goblin chase really aids the action. Then there's the nods to the LOTR soundtrack; the Shire theme gets a nice twist while the Dol Guldur sequence utilises memory to great effect to really up the chilling atmosphere. Some people may criticise the recycling of the music as unimaginative but it was one of my favourite aspects of The Hobbit and was probably the most effective method, for me, of linking the two trilogies completely.

An Unexpected Journey, despite its darker moments, operates a whole shade lighter than LOTR, embracing the comedic and the ridiculous moments in its source novel. The dwarves are a riot from the moment they appear, handling the comedy (and the inevitable singing) with aplomb though a couple of lines do grate a little. The thirteen actors have an easy chemistry though some do get more the spotlight than others. Gaining a nice Legolas-style transformation is Aidan Turner's Kili, given far more to do as one of the youngest and most adventurous dwarves, turning in a nice performance that balances both naivety and bravado. James Nesbitt's Bofur and Ken Stott's Balin both handle the kindly wise men roles well while Richard Armitage gives good Aragorn as the displaced leader of the troupe, destined to lead his people home.

Despite the strong support, there are still three performances in The Hobbit that stand out from the rest of the cast. Andy Serkis gets back in to the motion capture suit that made his name and brings back everyone's favourite jewellery-addict. It's a virtuoso performance that flits back between the two personalities of Smeagol and Gollum with ease, treading the fine line between the inherent tragedy and comedy of the character. Sir Ian McKellan's Gandalf is another highlight; a complete badass in the goblin scenes and the only one in Middle Earth who actually thinks something bad is about to go down. His flicker of recognition when Bilbo pockets the Ring is subtle, yet mightily effective.

Then there's Martin Freeman, the strong centre of the film who gives a career-best as Bilbo Baggins, presenting a multi-layered hobbit who has yet to achieve his true potential. Freeman naturally excels in the comedy scenes, even if he does play the first few scenes as a pointy-eared Arthur Dent (though the two characters have a fair amount in common) but it is in the later stages of the film, as Bilbo discovers his capacity for bravery and adventure that Freeman really excels. 

Whilst I still remain sceptical as to whether The Hobbit Trilogy will actually work as such, I was delighted by this first return to Middle Earth with its great sense of fun and some stunning set pieces. I'm already planning a return visit and may have to venture out to find a 48fps screening, just to see what all the fuss is about.

****

- Becky

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