I quite enjoyed the show until the end. This, however, felt like an amateur film to me. I know it isn’t because of the actors that are involved, but almost every directorial choice in this film makes no sense to me. For starters, it’s really hard to get a grasp on its tone. One minute it feels like a heightened, theatrical comicbook film, other moments feel like they’re being lifted from the _Se7en/Silence of the Lambs_ playbook. The dialogue, story choices, blocking and Andy Serkis’ hair are weird and illogical. Why did we need this prison section? Why does Andy Serkis’ character feel like a mashup of several Batman villains? Why am I supposed to root for a detective who [spoiler] escapes from prison and acts according to his own will [/spoiler]? This takes place in modern day London, not Gotham City, right? Was this a black list script that has been retooled to loosely fit with the show? Cuz I feel like I’ve been tricked into watching a B-movie I’d never watch if the _Luther_ brand wasn’t attached to it. The movie is at least a little elevated by Elba’s performance and a few effective moments of tension, but even a lot of those beats are clearly lifted from other movies. For example, there’s this whole chase scene that takes place in the London underground which blatantly rips off _Skyfall_ (a movie that’s visually “referenced” on multiple occasions). It’s just very, very weak on a creative level. It’d probably be slightly more watchable at 90 minutes, but it thinks it’s this big epic that can sustain a long runtime, which is a little misjudged to say the least.

2.5/10

If you enjoyed the TV show... DO NOT WATCH THIS.
It's crap.
There are shows and movies that you have to detach reality when watching them.. Spiderman, Batman etc. But you shouldn't have to detach reality for an entire 2-hour cop show set in London!!

There are so many bad scenes in this, there's no way a serious actor would have agreed to be in it unless it was solely for the $$$$$$$$$ offered if they had read the script prior to signing on.

I could list the bad stuff but it would take longer than watching the movie all over again. Here's one that won't ruin the plot....
Driving in the middle of nowhere - literally, there is nothing there. She folds the paper map and says "We're 3 miles out." They have to abandon the car minutes later (this scene is so impossibly stupid you have to see it to believe it). They get out and she says "We're 1 1/2 miles out." They walk for a bit, come over a crest and see their destination - about 2 miles away.
I won't even go into the absolute moronic things that happen from that point on.

Based on the final scene I think think this is going to turn into a James Bond type franchise going forward... and that's why this movie was made. I won't be watching it.
2/10

Luther is, for my money, one of the best things to come out of the UK, in a long time. I was therefore more than a little cynical, when I spied a film adaptation of the obsessively watchable, series.

To be frank, the back story is absurdly far fetched but somehow it "works". In essence, I'd describe it as a pastiche, of borrowed elements, from the series, that have been thrown together, in an inexplicable, crime mash up.

Its cause is helped in no small part, by Idris Elba, whose talent outshines and out paces, this flawed tale. Elba breathes life into a story, that might not have fared so well, with a lesser actor, in the lead.

In summary, the creative part of my brain enjoyed this, whilst the rational part sat back and shook its head. Yes, its utter nonsense but its really "good" nonsense, nonetheless. Give it a go....

I loved the first television series of this gritty and challenging police drama. Sadly, now we have reached a nadir for this charismatic and unorthodox character. The story is so ridiculously far-fetched that it reminded me of something Mark Gatiss might have written for "Sherlock" before he watched "No Time To Die" (2021) and thought - nah! It all starts when youngster "Callum" is dragged away from his night-time cleaning job by a mysterious phone call. Next thing we know, "Luther" (Idris Elba) is at a crime scene with no sign of the boy but with a victim in her car that has been missing for ages. Enter the completely un-menacing "Robey" (Andy Serkis) and pretty soon our favourite policeman is incarcerated for a career of systematic rule-bending/breaking and this rather evil monster now proceeds to prove that evil can prevail - and on a fairly spectacular scale. This story is, frankly, preposterous and as the film lumbers along for over two ours I really struggled to remain engaged as it moved from suicide scenarios to far more brutal killings - but what, exactly, is motivating this man is anyone's guess. He appears to have acquired control over a vast network of technology and people to effect his dastardly plan but none of that even vaguely rings plausible. The last twenty minutes are just plain silly and overall, the writing is all rather poor: "They'll kill you John" - "I can live with that!" - not an hint of irony there, neither. This is a pretty shameless attempt to capitalise on a strong character made memorable by a charismatic actor and a series of solid stories. This film has thrown all of those under the snowplough.