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Luther: The Fallen Sun shows that the long-running detective drama finally comes to the big screen… albeit on the small screen.
It did get OTT later in the series, though, and rather lacking in the last broadcast two-parter, in January 2019 on BBC1. Can this movie-length version bring it back to the fore?
Early on, young lad Callum Aldrich (James Bamford) is threatened by uber-rich David Robey (Andy Serkis – The Batman) to carry out an unspecified task, unless some – presumably salubrious – pictures will be texted to his girlfriend, before he’s soon captured, in what is going to be a very obvious scene, leading to Luther being fitted up for a crime he didn’t commit… and the A-Team are unavailable.
Quite why a cop isn’t separated from the general population, I don’t know.
From his cell, Luther’s still moaning that the Callum situation is his case, even though he’s in jail, and Martin Schenk’s replacement, DCI Odette Raine (Cynthia Erivo – Chaos Walking), dismisses anything he has to say. This is just stupid. You know the titular lead is the one who’ll be telling the truth about everything, but everyone treats him like he’s a ridiculous liar. It’s like how everyone treated Jack Bauer in ‘24‘.
Oh, and of course, the now-retired Schenk (Dermot Crowley) still pops up, because it’s not Luther without Schenk!
But Luther breaks out of prison in the most nonsense way possible, and Robey weedles his way into crazy situations, and showing himself up to be the nastiest motherfucker I think Luther’s ever had to put up with.
However, when it comes to a scene set in central London, featuring a stand-off between Luther and Robey, there’s some incredibly SHIT CGI! Jeez, it’s like no-one was even bothering! It’s like watching Grand Theft Auto NPCs stumble about!
Luther: The Fallen Sun does get very ‘seen it all before’ when it comes to certain elements of the plot, but at least we get Andy Serkis snarling nicely. Similarly, Idris Elba (Hobbs and Shaw: Fast And Furious) is as good as ever, as Luther, but it’s just a shame the script is so bloody cliched. Creator/writer Neil Cross just isn’t trying any more.
Plus, there’s even a trip to the frozen arctic wastes of a section of Norway… without any characters taking water or any provisions at all! WTF?!
As for why Robey was carrying on in the way he behaved wasn’t clear, other than being a complete fucking nutjob. Plus, he somehow manages to hire similarly deranged individuals who think nothing of sacrificing themselves.
Luther: The Fallen Sun is on Netflix from March 17th, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD.
Check out the trailer below:
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 129 minutes
Release date: March 10th 2023
Studio: Netflix
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1
Score: 5/10
Director: Jamie Payne
Producers: Peter Chernin, Neil Cross, Idris Elba, David Ready, Jenno Topping
Screenplay: Neil Cross
Music: Lorne Balfe
Cast:
John Luther: Idris Elba
DCI Odette Raine: Cynthia Erivo
David Robey: Andy Serkis
Martin Schenk: Dermot Crowley
DS Archie Woodward: Thomas Coombes
Corinne Aldrich: Hattie Morahan
Callum Aldrich: James Bamford
Anya Raine: Lauryn Ajufo
Dennis McCabe: Vincent Regan
Newman: Ross Waiton
Wong: Dan Li
Derek Standish: Edward Hogg
Arkady Kachimov: Einar Kuusk
Freddie – Assault Squad: Tom McCall
Jamal – Assault Squad: Carl Spencer
Lydia: Natasha Patel
Nilsson: Jess Liaudin
Georgette Robey: Tara Fitzgerald (uncredited)
Vivian Lake: Hermione Norris (uncredited)
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.