StunnaKrypto
Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.
Usamah Harvey
The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.
Brenda
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
Philippa
All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
ellenirishellen-62962
Held my attention from start to finish.Yes,this was a bloody period in British history.Excellent acting,so many facts that never had suspected in Guy Fawkes Plot,didn't realize James I was so anti-Catholic,esp since his mother was Catholic.But then,his father was a Protestant,and seeked to usurp the Scottish Crown.The scenes of torture and executions were hard to take at times,in particular,he Spanish heretics being burned.Just had to keep telling myself it was simulation,but how the crowds enjoying themselves really were anger producing,just like hangings in the Old West.Watched all three episodes last night,and the attention to detail was remarkable.Will never look at historic castles the same again (in the UK).
BlindLemonPye
Great locations, costume and overall a glossy high-budget and easy on the eye production. Just stunningly boring though. Even at only 3 episodes, it felt like you could cut out all the dull filler and condense the hammy, historically inaccurate narrative into a single hour of something a bit more watchable. Nothing remotely like Wolf Hall (which was gripping and superb). Definitely one to avoid.
wanderermmo
Not as bad as they might say around,but someone should watch it for what this show truly is, a historical drama and conspiracy story. It is not GOT, and the rare spikes of violence cannot change that. It is obvious that the producers themselves tried to pass the show as mini-"Got", but maybe this was their main mistake, distancing the series from both genres (fantasy and historical).
Julian Evans
There is a famous contemporary illustration of the plotters which depicts Guy (Guido) Fawkes and the others... he doesn't have a shaved head. He doesn't look like a 21st century thug. My point here is that TV drama has now reached a point where it's very difficult to separate fact from complete and utter fiction. This production looks great, but there's so much of our own time in it. I half expect to see a mobile phone appear. Kit Harington (creator and producer) looks and sounds and feels and smells like Jon Snow. Mark Gatiss looks and sounds and feels and smells like Mark Gatiss... is there no other part that this man can play? Liv Tyler makes an unnecessary appearance. Shaun Dooley looks like a supermarket store manager, and behaves like a pastiche of evil, something akin to Mark Heap's wonderful Robert Greene in Upstart Crow.The recent Taboo from Tom Hardy (creator and producer... there's a theme developing here) was at least a complete fiction. The tribal tattoos and bizarre make up on the faces of the children could be argued away as fiction too. It was an orgy of quasi-historic, to be watched from the safety of our centrally-heated living rooms. And that's the same with Gunpowder. It's history for the hipster, the goth, the inked. Tough and uncompromising but ultimately plain wrong.The crowd watching the horrendous executions are neatly spaced and directed. Some with arms aloft, others with hands cupped around mouths. There's no feeling of the pit, 'mosh' or otherwise. Our leading characters are WAY too attractive, too clean, too obvious. Real people don't look like this... and a Catholic hunter who has been told that exterior wall dimensions don't match those of the interior wouldn't give up on this fact the minute that one (very junior) cleric is found in a trunk. It's nonsense. It looks great, it pleases the modern palate, it gives Kit another excuse to brood and pout, but history it isn't. Who was Catesby? After watching this I am none the wiser. I know he's played by Kit Harington... maybe that's enough? But on the other hand, maybe, just maybe, after the Harvey Weinstein thing has been confined to history, we may move away from film and drama that relies upon looks and sex appeal and, instead, moves towards talent, truth and honesty.