by Mike Hilty, Contributing Writer
While watching all the seasons of Bob’s Burgers, an episode came on that made me chuckle quite a bit. The episode, entitled “Zero Larp Thirty”, has Linda winning a contest to do an immersion experience for her favorite show, Winthrope Manor. It’s a show about the ins and outs of a wealthy family in a fancy home. There are a lot of fancy costumes, and people get to experience what it’s like for the wealthy family, or the servants and housekeepers who make everything work. This doesn’t sound like anything on TV at all…
Downton Abbey: A New Era, follow-up to the TV series that aired from 2010 to 2016 and the movie in 2019, shows the lives of the Crawley family as they embark in a new era: the 1930s. The family has two issues at hand: Violet Grantham (Maggie Smith) has been informed that she is inheriting a villa in the south of France, and Downton Abbey will play host to a film production with some issues at hand.
Admittedly, I did enjoy the first film and what I saw of the show. I didn’t watch all of the show, but things certainly picked up steam after the first season. It’s a little tricky to navigate if you’re new to Downton Abbey because there are so many branches of characters among the family. If you throw in the servants, the cast of characters balloons to almost unmanageable territory due to volume.
The usual things audiences have come to love about Downton Abbey are ever present in A New Era. There’s a lot of sharp dialogue, drama, grand shots of beautiful villas, and beautiful costumes. It’s all here, and this time on two continents. The two main plots do a bit of a disservice to the main cast because it splits them up. That’s one thing that makes the ensemble so great: the way they play off one another. Siblings, parents, kids, coworkers, family, friends all have different dynamics and relationships that all play differently on film. So splitting the group up was a bit of a mistake. There’s also so much going on that it’s hard for anyone to truly stand out. Smith is the closest thing to a standout, and she has more depth than she’s had in a long time in the series or the last movie.
The first plot with Violet inheriting the Villa changes things up in a good way by allowing another culture to shine. I liked seeing these characters in a different element. It wasn’t even an us-versus-them or one is better than the other scenario. It was just a nice change of pace. This also serves as the primary mystery about what happened to Violet all those years ago. There were consequences for her actions, but it helped create a new dimension to multiple characters. Shoutout to Hugh Bonneville for his performance as Robert Grantham. He often doesn’t get a lot to do; however, he had a few things happen to him involving this plot that actually gave him more to do beyond being the head of the house.
The second plot was the one I liked better and had a lot to say about the evolution of Hollywood. The film that is in production at Downton Abbey is in the late stages when the studio pulls an audible and wants there to be sound, the new rage in films during the 1930s. It’s not the most original plot (this is heavily influenced by, if not completely lifted from, Singin’ In The Rain), but it was still nice to change the dynamics of the house to be something other than a grand event. This also helped showcase that the Crawleys needed to do this so they could help with repairs. It’s a nice parallel, the abbey and the film being made at Downtown Abbey. Both very old fashion and struggling to adapt to changing times. This plot also gives the servants a chance to shine by having them be up front and center while also allowing them to see a taste of what it’s like to be the upstairs people.
These are also where the new additions shine the most, with Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy), the director of the film who’s trying to keep everything together, and the film’s two stars Guy Dexter (Dominc West) and Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock). Myrna’s character gets a little more depth, which is appreciated considering she could just be a diva movie star. West also does great work with the material he’s given, including a name drop that is just outrageously hilarious.
All of this culminates with an emotional ending that gives a satisfying conclusion. It felt like a good punctuation to a successful run, while leaving the door open a smidge for the future. This felt like a changing of the guard and a good reminder of the foundation that was built from the show and previous movie is still strong.
This admittedly won’t appeal to everyone. If you’ve never seen anything related to Downton Abbey before, this isn’t for you. There’s so much catch-up you’ll need to do before getting to this point that, unless you’re doing this as a favor, a date, or a hangout with someone who’s a fan. There’s still enough to enjoy for casual fans, but this is definitely for the ones who have stuck with it. I did like the first movie better and the show is simply untouchable. Downton Abbey: A New Era is still a strong chapter to the franchise.
Score: 7/10
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