Reviews

It's impossible not to fall in love with Joanna Lumley. And even if you were already smitten, this series will make you fall in love with her all over again. This is a hugely informative, smart, witty and epic series that despite its scope retains a warmth and purpose thanks to Joanna that invites ordinary people to share what makes each country magical, without glossing over some of their challenges. Really an uplifting experience. 4 action packed and cinematic episodes - I just wish it was 8. She has achieved so much in so many genres already, but I hope for more adventures with Joanna. This is her best adventure yet. I learned a lot and laughed out loud often. Thanks mate.

At the beginning of the movie I would agree with some of the sentiments of the reviewers (see the scathing reviews on Rotten Tomatoes), however I stuck with it and was rewarded.

The second half really picks up and everything comes to frankly a touching and satisfying conclusion with great performances.

Which just confirms that many reviewers must have skipped out after only watching about 30 minutes of the movie and reviewed it based on the first weakest segment.

As the movie progresses the performances, the chemistry between Rogan and Streisand, the story and the comedy takes off and it becomes the movie you hoped it would be. It really has a heart, you just need to be patient for it to come along. Hang in there ;-)

Filmmakers take note - you HAVE to grab your audience in the first 20-30 minutes, especially if some of them are jaded reviewers watching screener DVDs that they might just skip if they get the least bit bored and publish a scathing review as punishment.

I had been hesitant about seeing this movie, partly because I heard the plot and script was even weaker than the first, and partly because I heard that a couple of the little robots were portrayed as stereotypically 'black' in a way that could only offend. So I've finally watched the movie 'to see for myself', and not only is the plot and script as abysmal as I heard, the cast is overwhelmingly white (more so than any other movie I've seen in a few years) and there were actually about 5 offensive stereotypes dotted throughout the movie, mostly black and some Mexican. I'm not overly politically correct or anything, but these characters were like some of the awful stereotypes you see in movies of the 30s and 40s. The director obviously is incredibly ignorant, and the studio (and executive producer Steven Spielberg) obviously put their seal of approval on these portrayals. The special effects are world class, but in light of this who cares?

I think this movie is a disservice to Alan Turing. He was the undisputed leader of the team that took the initial Polish work to break the Enigma Code, broke subsequent variations (such as for the naval Enigma machines) and automated the whole thing by creating one of the world's first computers called BOMBE. His work thus directly brought World War II to an early end and saving hundreds of thousands of lives in the process. He was also the founder of modern day computers and artificial intelligence (just Google 'Turing Test'). Why create a fictional story? In telling the story truthfully, they would have to touch on the fact that Alan Turing was gay. In 1952 he was arrested for being gay, was chemically castrated, and had all security clearance stripped. He committed suicide in 1954. Was it so unpalatable to tell the truth that the main character in this story was gay (as were thousands of soldiers who fought in WWII)? I think that story is more compelling. Are we so sanitized that he had to be replaced with a team of straight matinée idols? Alan Turing was one of the most important figures of the 20th century, and one of the most slighted. I wish someone would make a decent movie telling his story. You can sign a petition asking the British Government to apologize for the prosecution and castration of this war hero here: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/turing/