Netflix has done it again, and by that I mean released a movie that is really a continuation of a series but not advertised as such, at least not enough that I knew it was. They fooled me not once but twice, the first being last years mediocre "Fistful of Vengeance," but this time with "Luther: The Fallen Sun," they at least have Idris Elba, a terrific actor who command the screen right off of the wall.
He stars as the titular Luther, a "detective chief inspector," DCI for short, who at the start of the film is investigating the disappearance of a young man, only to quickly be tossed in prison for various unseen police crimes, or well, unseen by those who never watched the show Luther, ordered by the film's villain David, played by Andy Serkis. He's shown immediately to be bad and capable of pulling strings behind the scenes of the government, and his actions only get more slimy as the runtime continues.
This clearly ain't no "whodunit," having far more in common with those often tawdry 70's and 80's crime thrillers staring Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson or Burt Reynolds than perhaps I am comfortable watching. Those are a product of their time, and yeah, awful things happen all the time, but that doesn't mean I want to see it in action. When I watch something like, oh I dunno, 1983's "Sudden Impact," the fourth Dirty Harry movie, I am uncomfortable with the depiction of excessive use of force and sexual assault, but it's decades old and I can somehow accept the horrors onscreen because of its vintage; it's weird how one's moral compass works. But "Luther" is a product of today, and we should be a bit less exploitative, or at least, more sensitive of such appalling subject matter.
You want to see a young girl being suffocated by a plastic bag in front of her mom? Didn't think so, but you do, repeatedly. Oh sorry, probably should have put "spoiler" in front of that, but whatever.
David's plan is ultimately to livestream torture and execution, allowing sickos to be able to vote on on a torture method and then watch safely from a device of their choice. He uses digital blackmail to get victims and that's probably all I am at liberty to say without really exposing the plot. But when Luther escapes prison, he has to change course and try to rub him out of the picture while also staying on schedule. Oh, and the head of British police Odette Raine (Cynthia Erivo), wants both of them, a real thorn in both men's side.
Don't get me wrong, this is a great looking film, the cinematography by Larry Smith and direction from Jamie Payne are both spectacular, and the entire cast is terrific; Andy in particular taking an almost game-show host approach that really makes you hate him- something all thrillers need. But I simply cannot condone the level of violence on kids, women, and people of color by a white man and his merry band of other white men. Even if it wasn't the intention, the undertones of racism, sexism and probably other "isms" just got under my skin and made me feel icky. And if you're going to use such real-world problems, then at least have a point to the mayhem. There isn't one here.
Then there's the subject of police brutality, which the flick attempts to justify by having it used only on people "who deserved it." Yeah, that sounds great in 2023.
This is just schlock. Well-made schlock, but schlock nonetheless.
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