The second of the three Red Riding films, despite being filmed on 35 mm, has the crowded feel of good television. It's a smaller story, more trained on small character tics and beats than the symbolic visual decay. of 1974
Red Riding: 1980 (Directed By James Marsh)
And thus begins the start of Red Riding's woes. Cut from the same beast as David Fincher's fantastic Zodiac, 1980 is the most procedurally minded of the films. The Yorkshire Killer case has the police department vexed, and with the public angered, Home Office brings in Peter Hunter (Paddy Considine) to head the case and also, to evaluate charges of corruption and incompetence on the case.
Aspects of 1974 are fleshed out in what is a tight if slightly less compelling film. Considine's Hunter is a conflicted man stuck between a rock and a hard place, and he wears the role well. Marsh's direction is no nonsense stuff. The issue is he has been handed the weaker story, hitting the same thematic beats from 1974 without offering anything much beside a few more clues to the larger puzzle, which frankly, was more interesting when it was shrouded in mystery.
The idea of history repeating itself seems appropriate, as the Yorkshire police brass clink glasses and proclaim, "To the North -- where we do what we want." But watching history repeat itself...decidedly less interesting.
RATING: 3 out of 5 stars
Red Riding: 1983 (Directed By Anand Tucker)
Here's where Red Riding really begins to feel like a trilogy. The finale, 1983, is basically everything typical of a bad sequel -- bigger, louder, dimmer. And even though it holds the key to the series of murders stringing through 1974 and 1980, the finale is a pretty huge bore.
Part of the issue has to deal with tone -- so much horror and sadness has been thrown on the screen, by 1983, the plotting gets ridiculous to the point that it's all reduced to pulp. Centering (more or less) on two protagonists (of sorts), Yorkshire police officer Maurice Jobson (David Morrissey) and attorney John Piggott (Mark Addy), the film has neither the gusto of part one or the discipline of part two. It's something of a mess, like a bad double-episode of CSI or any other American cop show.
Every loose ends comes together, and instead of vindicating the earlier films, 1983 undermines them to a certain degree. By the end, who-killed-who or who-set up-who doesn't really seem so important. Getting there was a far more rewarding experience.
RATING: 2 out of 5 starsTRILOGY VERDICT: Don't believe the hype -- as films, only 1974 comes close to standing alone, an ashen and hazy neo-noir. As a complete trilogy though, Red Riding is a bit underwhelming, especially on the big screen.
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