Luther: The Fallen Sun

"It’s fun, in the patently ridiculous way these sorts of zhuzhed-up thrillers tend to be."

"Without the extended context of longform TV, the greater emphasis on explicit, violent horror is a bit exhausting."

"For some reason, it all reminded me of The Snowman. And you never want to be reminded of The Snowman."

"A plot so bombastic and overdone that unintentional giggles are consistently available."

"The film defaults to the most pedestrian narrative turns imaginable when it’s not just recycling bits from the series."

"Elba, ever watchable, makes for a nicely conflicted antihero."

"If you’ve never seen Luther, don’t start here. You will be completely lost. Even dedicated fans are likely to be confused..."

"A gruesome, over-the-top spectacle."

"A messy, oversized TV show expansion."

"Payne stages the violent mayhem in gripping fashion, clearly relishing the opportunity to go bigger and bolder..."

"The Fallen Sun casts a dim light despite Idris Elba’s star power..."

"A polished action-thriller with no soul..."

"The mere presence of Elba’s Luther... is enough to keep The Fallen Sun from sinking."

"There’s no doubting Cross knows how to get the audience to invest in a story..."

"Elba’s mercurial screen presence, all rumpled gravitas and movie-star smolder ... fills out the character with something special."

"So what if the serial-killer plot can’t get a grip, Elba is pure pow."

"Cross’s plot doesn’t so much thicken as coagulate into nonsense."

"It bombards us with an overload of everything, especially plot..."

"As a “TV movie” it’s a perfectly fine watch if you’re already onboard with the series."

"The Fallen Sun proves that Idris Elba never needed to be James Bond when he could just be DCI John Luther."