Reviews

This starts off slow and predictable. A group of friends at Oxford university enjoying a party in the pre-war years that swiftly sets up future characters one being a very pro-National Socialist, interesting, but abruptly ends. We're then launched into the days prior to Chamberlain going to Munich for his meeting with Hitler. There's a forced love story for our protagonist showing tension with his needy wife, there was no build up to his character to begin with and this was a lame attempt to make us feel something, anything. I thought to myself this is going to be bland.

Then Jeremy Irons comes in, every time he's on screen it piques my interest because I want to learn about the man Chamberlain, and Irons presents us with a very immersive performance portraying a man under huge stress and in a very difficult position. For me he saved the show but he is a secondary character and I thought he did well with what he had to work with.

Intermittently we're shown a German diplomat on a crusade to bring down the National Socialist Party, this diplomat turns out to be our protagonist's friend from Oxford. It's not explained why this person is now completely anti-National Socialist but there is a reason later on which I think is contrived and not fully believable.

The diplomat wants to smuggle a document to his old Oxford friend and the tension build up is good, until you realize the document is not really anything but a bunch of notes from an old meeting talking about invading the Czechs. The German diplomat becomes emotionally hysteric, desperately trying to get the viewer on side by warning us of "millions of deaths" and Hitler's plans for "world conquest" that he would have absolutely no clue about, almost like he's been brought back from the future to warn Chamberlain.

He leads our protagonist through the streets in such a obvious shifty way and then into a pub filled with German officers to have a secret meeting! It's comical. He demands a meeting with Chamberlain to discuss this document and gets one, and this is probably the best scene in the movie, Chamberlain shoots down his attempts and shrugs it off as hyperbolic and nonsensical and rightly so almost treating him like an upset child. I couldn't help but notice this is a play on current politics, with immature millennials demanding action on things they know little about and letting their emotions create conclusions.

The diplomat is then alone in a room with Hitler and has a pistol with the intention of killing him, but he cannot bring himself to shoot Hitler, for no reason given. Then at the end the diplomat is asked if he will keep fighting and he says "yes." WHAT? You had the ultimate chance to end it and chickened out, then what are you continuing to fight for? Ridiculous writing.

The actor playing Hitler is good and uses the deep voice that is often missing from previous portrayals, him and Irons are the crux of this movie and if only it could have more focused on the enthusiasm for a deal and the backroom drama and the hopes to avoid war with more of a character study on the two men at that period in history.

I have to note there is diversity forced into the movie, even with a line telling the protagonist (the viewer) that she's from Nottingham incase we were all too prejudice and presumed India.

For a long time now the audience has been content with the adaption from book to screen. However, season 5 and onwards there is a clear change in tone, lots of last minute Hollywood saves, less characters die, and lots more one-liners and other dumb dialogue. It starts to feel like a generic fantasy or action heroe series.

Episode 3 season 8 should prevent these two writers from getting future work in the industry, it is some of the sloppiest story I have seen and I feel cheated out of the 8 years of watching the show to have it end like this. There was a clear and deliberate attempt to make the White Walkers the main enemy, so much time and build up to get us to this point. In the end the White Walkers couldn't even get past Winterfell and now it's all over. It's a strange feeling because of the huge build up your anticipation was that these were a greater threat than anyone else and yet it's over in an instant. Now we have 3 episodes of.... what? I anticipate lots of filler and drawn out scenes until they eventually fight Cersei and that's it.

What a shame it had to end like this.