Downton Abbey Film Review With Some Possible SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TV shows being turned into films is really nothing new infact it's been going on for quite a long time so it was really no shock at least to me that one of the biggest shows to come from the UK Downton Abbey was being turned into a film. There's a lot of hype surrounding this film with trailers galore and posters literally everywhere you go it's hard to escape the fact that this movie is here and well I thought that i'd give you my take on the film and since i've not seen that much of the show i'm going to be judging this as a movie and not as a continuation of a beloved series so here is my review of Downton Abbey the film.

The basic premise of the film is that the King and Queen are coming to spend the night at Downton Abbey while on a tour of the country and this one event sends the whole house into disarray. There really isn't a plot to this film at all it's just the characters getting ready for and going through the event of the King and Queen staying all the while doing the things there known for doing which does work for a forty minuet show it doesn't exactly work for a two hour film.

It goes without saying that pretty much except a few of the actors from the show are reprising their roles for film. So starring in the film is Hugh Bonneville as Robert Crawley , Richenda Carey as Mrs Webb , Laura Carmichael as Edith Pelham , Jim Carter as Charles Carson , Raquel Cassidy as Mrs. Baxter , Brendan Coyle as John Bates , Michelle Dockery as Lady Mary Talbot , Kevin Doyle as Mr. Molesley , Michael C. Fox as Andy Parker , Joanne Froggatt as Anna Bates , Matthew Goode as Henry Talbot , Harry Hadden-Paton as Herbert Pelham , Robert James-Collier as Thomas Barrow , Sophie McShera as Daisy , Lesley Nicol as Mrs. Patmore , David Haig as Mr Wilson , Geraldine James as Queen Mary , Simon Jones as King George V , Tuppence Middleton as Lucy Smith , Stephen Campbell Moore as Major Chetwode , Penelope Wilton as Lady Isobel Grey and in what is a mini Harry Potter reunion , Imelda Staunton (Dolores Umbridge) as Lady Maud Bagshaw and Dame Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall) as Violet Crawley.

Yes I know it's a huge cast list and I did my best to really trim it down but I couldn't use my usual method of just crediting the characters important to the plot since there really is no plot to speak of. As for what I thought about the acting it was honestly really great heck i'd go as far to say that this film is one of if not the best acted film i've seen this year and yes i'm including Avengers: Endgame in that mix. Every actor old and new really does deliver a truly great performance and I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few OSCAR nominations for some of these actors that's how good the acting is in this film.

SOME SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Now if your like me and you've not really seen that much of the show but are still interested in seeing the movie. Then I can tell you that you don't need to have seen every episode of the show to know what's going on in the film since the film does a solid job of introducing all of the characters anyway and it doesn't pick up on any of the shows storylines instead opting for a self contained storyline but I do think it would help if you've seen at least one if not two or three episodes.

There's a lot of drama in this film and when I say alot I really do mean alot which works both for and against the film in my opinion. Since the film is a drama and so it stands to reason that there's drama in the film however this film really does go overboard with the drama. Every other scene there's some form of drama going on and i'm going to be frank it makes the film boring at times but I have a feeling that fans of the show will like that aspect of it.

Now I simply couldn't do a review of this film without mentioning Highclere Castle which for those that don't know was the main filming location for both the show and the film. This castle just looks stunning as all hell you could very easily see a well off family living in this castle regardless of the era and to me it's fitting for the show and for this film and I hope that it stands for hundreds of years so alot more people can see it's splendour and beauty.

Now just because there's alot of drama doesn't mean that there isn't some light hearted moments in the film because there is a few. Maggie Smith's character who I believe gave out some humorous lines in the show and the same thing is true here she does get alot of funny lines which i'm not going to spoil because I honestly feel that the film is worth seeing just for those lines but in my opinion they are few and far between.

Now when talking about the show not alot of people give credit to creator and writer Julian Fellowes and that's a shame because he is honestly a really talented writer. His script is honestly so good that the actors don't really have to do that much acting because it's all there in the script every character is so well written and the dialog is so good this film is an example of how good a script should freaking be. For those who like this sort of thing they do play the opening theme song and it honestly makes the opening really epic.

SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overall I have a feeling that the fans of the show will get more from it then people who aren't fans but with that being said it's still a solid film and so it gets an 8.5 out of 10 from me.