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Critic Reviews
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If you go in with an open spirit and let yourself get swept up in the accents and facial hair, you'll almost certainly enjoy Harington. [15/22 Dec 2017, p.98]
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By focusing on the internal machinations of Catesby and his Protestant antagonists, Gunpowder locates a human drama at the heart of an event codified in history books as a conflict between monoliths. It turns a curiosity of British lore into a resonant portrait of courage, and a testament to the value of resistance.
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The bulk of Gunpowder is a reasonably exciting costume drama combining history and suspense, with fine performances by Sherlock’s Mark Gatiss as the King’s vindictive secretary of state and Peter Mullan (Top of the Lake, Ozark) as Henry Garnet, a Jesuit priest sympathetic to Catesby’s efforts.
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Gunpowder chooses to focus its energy on capturing the experience of the tale while economizing with regard to the time spent cracking on toward the plot’s denouement. The conspirators’ efforts may have come to naught, but the efforts of Bennett, Harington and his co-stars do justice to their history.
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The results are entertaining enough (the writing from Ronan Bennett and directing from J Blakeson has a fluidity to it that never makes you check the time) and the cast certainly delivers, but this is a miniseries that would have been better timed for March, given everyone trying to catch up on the best that TV has to offer right now.
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In an age in which thin stories are often stretched on the rack to produce 10 or 13 hours, Gunpowder lives fast, dies young, and doesn’t overstay its welcome.
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While Gunpowder tells its story clearly and respectably--previously unaware British viewers will see Guy Fawkes Day differently--its handsome presentation and effective plotting don’t add up to more than a dutiful shrug.
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The series is handsomely dressed, and Mr. Blakeson has the blunt ability to ratchet up tension that he showed in the 2009 film “The Disappearance of Alice Creed.” But Mr. Bennett’s script, while it delineates the issues, doesn’t make us care about the people involved.
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[Gunpowder] takes its precious time with weighty moments yet still skims the surface of things in a way that never fully engages nor illuminates its key characters.
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[Kit Harington's] a narcotized Jon Snow in a narcoleptic of a miniseries that nods off at times, and seems maddeningly unaware that viewers will be induced to do the same thing. ... A gluepot of a miniseries with good actors and no pulse.
Awards & Rankings
User score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 36
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Mixed: 11 out of 36
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Negative: 7 out of 36
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Dec 18, 2017
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Dec 22, 2017
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Dec 18, 2017