Luther: The Fallen Sun has received mixed reviews from critics who called the film “overblown and cartoonish”.
Idris Elba, who began playing the hot-headed detective 13 years ago, has been praised for his acting in the Netflix movie as he makes his first return as DCI John Luther since January 2019.
Luther had five critically-acclaimed series on the BBC following its launch in 2010.
But the 2023 film, which arrived in select cinemas on Friday, received two and three stars from critics.
Writing in The Times, Kevin Maher said the increased budget from the streaming giant has been spent on a “gorgeous chopper shot” and a plot so “bombastic and overdone that unintentional giggles are consistently available”.
He called the story “cartoonish”, but he praised Elba’s “charm and bullish charisma” as Luther.
Brian Viner in the Daily Mail also took aim at the storyline and praised the “sizzling star quality” of Elba.
He added: “It bombards us with an overload of everything, especially plot, with a psychotic villain played by Andy Serkis who seems to have arrived in modern-day London straight from the bowels of the Underworld.”
Dermot Crowley reprises his role as Detective Martin Schenk, while Cynthia Erivo plays DSU Odette Raine.
The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey said the film made a case for Elba as the superhero Batman due to the comic book feel, “neo-noir” rainy London and “sleazier than real life” Soho.
She added the “chief draw” is Elba, also known for his roles as drug dealer Stringer Bell in crime series The Wire and Nelson Mandela in Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom, as he makes audiences “root” for the “most crotchety” among them.
The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw said the “greater emphasis on explicit, violent horror” without the context of a long-form TV is a “bit exhausting”.
Though he said Elba, 50, brought his “mighty physical presence” as DCI Luther, Bradshaw added there is not the “same character-related interest as the TV series could generate”.
Francesca Steele writes in the i that “the good news” has been the money to do a Piccadilly Circus chase in London and an underground lair in the mountains.
However, she added the “bad news” is the film “doesn’t know quite what to do” with the big budget.
Luther: The Fallen Sun is in select cinemas from Friday and on Netflix on March 10.