Review: Downton Abby: A New Era
Downton Abbey: A New Era brings the highly successful British Drama back to the big screen for its second feature film, this time jumping forward to 1928.
I, Dragon Movie Guy, have never seen any episode of Downton Abbey, nor the first feature film before. I come in fresh with no prior experience in the Downton Abbey franchise, and will be doing my review based on this movie alone — not in relation to the series as a whole.
The Plot — Downton Abbey: A New Era
The Crawley family gathers to celebrate the wedding of Tom Branson, played by Allen Leech, and Lucy Branson, played by Tuppence Middleton. The wedding gathers what feels like the entire family/cast back at the titular Downton Abbey for the first time since the last movie.
At the post wedding party, the family finds out that family matriarch Violet, played by Maggie Smith, has somehow inherited a villa in Southern France. Simultaneously, the family receives an offer that’s too good to refuse — a major Hollywood studio wants to shoot a movie at Downton Abbey.
We have two huge storylines, and a huge cast of characters. So, we send part of the cast to the French villa to investigate the property; and, we keep part of the cast at Downton to supervise and watch a big budget Hollywood movie shoot a movie within our movie.
The Villa — Downton Abbey: A New Era
Violet’s age isn’t specified, but 87 year old Maggie Smith, plays the elderly Royal as too old to go on the journey to France. So in her stead, Violet’s son, Robert Grantham, played by Hugh Bonneville, accepts the invitation.
Also along with Robert on the excursion are Cora, Tom Branson, his new wife Lucy, and Mr. Carson the butler. Since it’s 1928, our group travels by boat to France, making for a much longer journey than it would be today.
The Hollywood Movie Set
The remaining Crawley clan remains at Downton and greets the Hollywood royalty shooting their silent movie.
Director Jack Barber, played by Hugh Dancy, and movie star Guy Dexter, played by Dominic West, regale the family and staff as they shoot their film. Especially taken by the glitz and glamour, Lady Mary spends lots of time with the cast and crew — especially Guy Dexter — despite her husband being overseas.
The Good — Downton Abbey: A New Era
The Cast
The vast majority of this cast returns from the TV series 6 season run.
Again, I have not viewed even a single episode of the series, or previous feature film before. But, even I can tell that the time these talented actors have spent playing these characters pays off in ‘A New Era’.
While the film manages many storylines in minimal screen time, so much of the story conveys through the casts’ experience. You feel the years spent in character and the relationships built up over time with a simple reaction shot.
The Castle
In an era filled with CGI aliens, and actors in front of green screens; Downton Abbey: A New Era does none of this.
Highclere Castle in Hampshire, England stands in for the titular Downton Abbey for both the interior and exterior settings. One can easily see the age and expanse of the castle are the real deal, having been built in 1679.
The costumes and hair and makeup help sell the era of the story, but the believability of the story is all from the setting at Highclere Castle. You could not get the same believability by shooting at a studio or on a green screen.
The Bad — Downton Abbey: A New Era
The SIZE Of The Cast
While I just spent time lauding the cast of the film for its depth and experience, I need to note how large the cast of A New Era is and how diluted the story gets as a result.
There are too many characters sharing too little screen time for a film of this length. With so many characters from the TV show being included in this feature film, remembering and tracking every one of them posed too great a challenge for me as a new viewer.
For fans of the show, I have no doubt they will appreciate all of the Easter Eggs and character appearances in the crowded backgrounds of the movie. But, as a first time viewer, so many characters got walk on lines, and then weren’t in the main storylines of the film. The result may have been fan service to the hardcore existing fanbase, but it was too cluttered and too crowded for me.
No Stakes
This may be the American in me talking, or just the fan of superhero movies and tense dramas talking. But, for all of the many high profile storylines going on in this film, there are nearly no stakes or consequences on the line with the story of this film.
Not everything needs to involve the destruction of the Earth or end in a fist fight, but the main dramatic elements of this story don’t really matter. What I mean is you could reverse the results of this entire motion picture, and the lives of the characters would continue on in much the same way. Their lives, their realities would not change.
The Hollywood movie being shot at Downton is justified by wanting money to repair a leaky roof, but this family’s wealth can easily cover any repair expenses and have plenty left over to spare. No stakes.
The French villa storyline has some complication for a central character, but it’s clearly established that drama won’t have any effect on the character’s life, regardless of outcome. Again, no stakes.
Without having and significant stakes, one can’t really answer the ‘why’ I should care about this film. If the characters themselves won’t be affected, don’t sweat the results. Why should I?
It’s ‘Nice’
Again, this may reflect more on me as a film goer than the quality of this film. But, A New Era is ‘nice’… It’s ‘pleasant’… But, really, it’s boring.
This may very well be a ‘me problem’ rather than a ‘you problem’ when it comes to enjoying this film, as I am used to more explosions, fights, or even just shock value. But, this film is nice. There’s no real conflict. No one is yelling, or running for their life. It’s wealthy people, and their domestic staff; talking in polite, hushed tones.
For a movie with so many plot lines and characters, I was shocked at how slow and quiet Downton really feels. These adjectives don’t have to be synonyms for ‘boring’, but in this case they are.
The Review — Downton Abbey: A New Era
Fans of the TV series and previous feature film will enjoy Downton Abbey: A New Era. This film feels like a victory lap of sorts for all of the hard work the cast and crew put into the highly successful original series.
The sets and locations are already built. The cast is largely the same. And, while seemingly high profile storylines dominate the film; the results of the film are almost never in doubt.
But, for being a show whose reputation is largely built on subtlety, culture, and character development/drama; this film lacks much of that. The cast is so chalked full of characters, it’s nearly impossible to get enough time for a singular storyline to focus on character development.
The same is echoed in culture and subtlety. Because we have so much going on with the plot — weddings, road trips, Hollywood movies — we don’t spend much time dealing with the culture of nearly 100 years ago, or in the subtle character interactions I’ve heard people talk so much about.
It’s difficult to say exactly WHY, but for a film that is relatively fast moving and has so much going on with an overactive plot; this film is slow and boring. While the scenes are edited together with a rather quick pacing and progression, the film FEELS slow.
The great irony of not letting this film breathe and failing to have a more deliberate pacing focused on the character interaction and emotions; is that pacing feels slow and pointless, rather than fast and impactful.
Downton Abbey: A New Era tries to be too much for too many people. Instead of telling a concise and stylized story for their audience, the characters and story get lost trying to appeal to a larger mass audience needed to sell a feature film.
Even with a great cast, great setting, and a well established product; this film fails. Boring, no stakes, and too crowded.
Bigger isn’t always better. Two and a half stars.
