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jsimonbennett
Reviews
Going Postal (2010)
Excellent adaptation
Of the three Sky adaptations of Pratchett's discworld novels this is by far the best. The storyline is true to the book although,as with the other two discworld films, since the history has not been covered by previous stories, more explanation is required which can get in the way of the plot on occasion.
Clair Foy's Adora Belle Dearheart is a little too jovial and Charles Dance is not quite menacing enough as the Patrician. Nonetheless the performances are very good and certainly believable enough for a fantasy world.
Sir Terry's influence on the script is obvious and the Post Office building is magnificent in it's conception.
If Sky can keep this up then I look forward to adaptations of the witches and watch novels with eager anticipation.
Hogfather (2006)
Will the real discworld stand up?
This is definitely not the discworld of the books!
The first and most serious problem is that Hogfather is one in a series of books which have built on each other over time. There is a great deal of "prevous knowledge" that is glossed over. Some examples - how is Susan related to death and what are the implications?, Albert can't return to the earthly realm - why?, who exactly is Corporal Nobbs and why does he act the way he does.
Readers of the books will know the answers to all of these questions and many more which could be raised by the casual viewer.
The next problem is that discworld does not come over as different enough to our world to make it seem a place based on magic rather than science. Certainly my imagination, and much of the cover art of the books, placed the discworld of the books in an earlier period than that portrayed in the film (approximately late 19th century). Ankh Morpork is also far to clean and nice to be the city described in the books.
My wife asked "why do all these films look the same?" - referring in particular to the Harry Potter films, to which this has more than a passing resemblance. A real shame given that the book itself is shorter than a Harry Potter novel and yet the length of the film is much longer than the films of the same.
The upshot is that this is unlikely to make viewers want to look into the books and discover their rich comic vein. Too few laughs and taking itself much too seriously, this is somewhat of a disappointment!