Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 4 Review

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 4 Review

*This review contains spoilers*

I'm not really able to articulate just how good Episode 4 of Line of Duty Series 2 is. It's full of revelation after revelation throughout, with parts of the conspiracy starting to slot nicely into place, yet still leaving us feeling far away from knowing the full truth about what's going on.

For Denton, there's no denying that we're now being formally placed in the 'believe her to be innocent' pile. She at least receives what appear to be more lawful-good guards, has a visit to her dying mother, and is then kidnapped by two crooked members of the police when they ram the van she is being escorted in off the road.

Of those two officers, one is identified by Carly Kirk's parents as being a Detective who came and took away evidence from her bedroom and possessions, something which Fleming explains wouldn't be done in the way it was, immediately letting us know something was up. He happens to also be Carly's boyfriend. Said boyfriend was seen talking to Dryden at a dinner event, which Carly was also working, which happens to be on the night that Dryden apparently took the blame for a speeding fine in place of his wife, which gives him an alibi for the night Carly disappeared...and the second officer is the hitman who murdered Georgia in Episode 1. It's pretty clear now that Dryden is behind a lot of this, though there are still plenty of pieces of the jigsaw to slot in place.

One of the best scenes of the series takes place early on, as Fleming, Arnott and Cottan convince Hastings to let them bring in Dryden about the traffic violation, whilst also hoping to probe into his alleged relationship with Denton. It's a wonderfully hostile performance by Mark Bonnar as Dryden, who could easily be either a master villain or just a high-ranking officer who's pissed off at being brought in for questioning. His denial of having had previous contact with Denton is thrown out of the window later on with the exposure of phone records connecting the two, plus staff at a hotel they used to meet remembering them. Hastings reaction to the whole affair, too, is superb, with his conflict between his future career prospects and doing the right thing leading him to try and put off the inevitable. With the amount of evidence that will be brought to him at the start of the next episode, though, he'll have no choice but to allow further questioning.

Fleming's moral guilt comes into play, too, as she ends up in tears in a toilet cubicle over being incorrect about Denton's involvement. Someone else with guilt on their mind, though probably more fearing for their illegal activities from Series 1 (so I believe) coming to light than anything else, is Cottan; recordings that DS Akers made before her murder show the key witness talking about corruption in the police threatening the immunity he has been promised. He talks about 'the two-faced bastard' (or some such description), which another video shows to be Dryden, talking about never granting immunity. He also mentions another officer further down the chain of command, which the expression on Cottan's face can only indicate refers to himself. Naturally, he offers to follow up this detail himself, so the likelihood at this stage is he'll weasel his way out of it, which will mean more Craig Parkinson for Series 3, and therefore this is a very good thing indeed.

Denton's visit to her mother is emotionally traumatic, as you'd expect from someone in her position, and there's conflict within her when her guards fall asleep and she has the chance to escape out of the front door. It's more evidence for her innocence that she doesn't, though following her capture at the end she probably regrets not having made a run for it.

All in all, this was the best episode of Series 2 yet, with all the pieces moving together nicely. There's only two episodes to go, so we'll soon have the full truth with plenty more twists along the way. It's fantastic television, this, and even pausing to write this review is leaving me impatient to get on watching the next episode. UK TV dramas don't get much better than this.

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 3 Review

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 3 Review

*This review contains spoilers*

We're halfway through the series now, and I'm just as hooked as ever. Though it felt slightly more muted this week (literally because there was no jaw dropping moment towards the end), Line of Duty remains incredibly gripping, with sterling performances throughout.

I'm writing this review a week or so after watching the episode (damn university assignments taking precedence), so my memory is starting to get a little sketchy, but there were several things that stood out to me with this episode. Firstly is Denton's slow descent into that of a beaten and downtrodden woman. It's looking increasingly more likely that she is innocent, as her situation worsens with a spell in jail under the care of two corrupt prison wardens (for whom torture with scalding water seems a natural course of action) eliciting more and more sympathy for the character. It's fairly difficult seeing someone who is obviously a hardened (too hardened in some respects) person looking like they are reaching the depths of despair. It doesn't need saying how brilliant Keeley Hawes is in all of this. It's great for the story that at the very end, Arnott tells her that he believes her story.

With respect of the rest of the police, they all look like getting into trouble themselves. Arnott clearly made a mistake getting into a relationship with one of the key witnesses (a nurse) to the death of the key witness from the opening episode. Hastings does the right thing in going to Dryden to confess his financial woes, but I doubt that's the last we've heard of it. Fleming tells Arnott that she is having an affair with the deceased DS Akers' husband, and DS Akers was apparently receiving large amounts of money from somewhere, putting her firmly under suspicion. So many secrets starting to come out, all of which are obviously going to end badly. Having not seen Series 1, and only getting a vague indication of the character from wikipedia, the introduction of Craig Parkinson's DI Cottan ruffles plenty of feathers (never has a character been referred to in so sweary a way so frequently) without me really knowing much about his character, but anything I've seen Parkinson in has delivered a fantastic performance, so I'm glad to see him in the show.

I'm definitely wishing that I'd been able to watch Series 1 first at this stage, but due to a very long wait at the library this isn't possible. It's little things like learning the witness who dies in Episode 1 is a main character from Series 1, thus making the shock discovery at the end of Episode 2 actually shocking, that I feel I'm missing out on, so I'm hoping that this isn't going to continue too much for the rest of this series. Whether Cottan's past is going to play a big part of not I don't know, but I suspect it will.

Denton's suggestion to Fleming that Dryden might have something to do with all this because of their affair a few years back gives us another suspect to throw into the mix, and it certainly seems to be the main catalyst for getting Arnott (and presumably soon, Fleming) on her side. If the rest of this series is as entertaining as the first half, I'm in for a huge treat.

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 2 Review

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 2 Review

*This review contains spoilers*

Following on from last week, DI Denton is charged with plotting the murder of her fellow officers, after she outs DCFleming as being a member of AC-12. Before her interview can be terminated, she lays serous accusations at the feet of DC Fleming, DS Arnott, and Supt Hastings. Just as she is being taken away to the cells, Witness Protection documents arrive revealing who the witness was, and the shock reverberates around the station. Meanwhile, Denton’s search for missing Carly Kirk hits a dead end, and DCC Dryden is in the frame for a driving offence that his wife claimed she committed.

Bloody hell, this just gets better and better, doesn’t it? Not content with last week with twisting and turning before throwing someone out of a window, this week the show leaves us screaming at the television ‘WHO IS IT??!?!?!?!?!’, as the witness is revealed to the police but not to us. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for people watching this once a week, and unable to skip straight to the next episode as I’m highly likely to be about to do.

Not content with giving us a phenomenally godsdamn frustrating cliffhanger, we also had one of the most gripping police interviews that I’ve ever seen, as Denton turns the tables on the three investigating officers. Just how well written, directed and acted must a show be to make what is essentially five people (counting Denton’s defender-person) in a room for twenty minutes absolutely unmissable?

The performances from all involved have been top notch, but of course it’s Keeley Hawes who is giving the best performance of all. She flips from looking innocent to guilty in the blink of an eye, and it’s truly impossible to say strongly one way or another. Though I’m still convinced she’ll be innocent (through no more than gut instinct), it’s a hell of a lot of fun speculating. She’s got a violently unpredictable streak that could either come from being a guilty crazy person, or simply someone under immense stress, suffering from PTSD and at the end of their tether. The unexpected thumping of Fleming in the stomach, and the few seconds where it looks like she’ll leave the deep fat fryer on in her noisy neighbours kitchen are the ac t of someone without a fully clean set of morals, but in her position would anyone else being acting completely rationally?

Elsewhere, the plot involving the search of missing Carly Kirk is surely going to tie into the main plot somewhere, particularly as the garage that has something do with the cars from the night of the murders and Carly’s supposed boyfriend (I’ll admit to not paying full attention to either of those bits, as I was still trying to wrap my head around so many other questions) keeps cropping up. DCC Dryden is also looking like he’s harbouring some guilty secret, which will surely affect the main plot.

It all add up to the excitement and drama that has been Line of Duty for these first couple of episodes. I’m damn glad that I’ve got the DVD so I can find out exactly what happens without too much delay!

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 1 Review

Line of Duty Series 2 Episode 1 Review

*This review contains spoilers*

Well...holy shit.

Sometimes I really think I’m going to have to start watching TV shows as they appear on TV, rather than all in one go when they come out on DVD, just so I can enjoy the cliffhangers with the rest of the country. And by the gods, this has to be one of the most out of the blue and shocking endings to an episode I’ve ever seen on British television.

I heard the hype for this when it was first on. Well, Series 2, anyway. I didn’t even know there had been a Series 1, but I heard rave reviews about the first episode, and just never got the time to catch up with it. I heard rave review all the way through, in fact, and so I’m finally finding the odd hour here and there to try and get it watched. The same thing happened with Broadchurch, hearing wonderful things and then wishing I’d been there at the start when I finally saw it. Though I love having multiple series to watch straight after another, I still love the excitement that courses through my veins when I have to speculate for a week on what I’ve just seen. It’s fair to say that I’m feeling that right from the off with Line of Duty.

DI Lindsay Denton is contacted by DS Jayne Akers for backup when a key witness is compromised. When the convoy she arranges is attacked, all three police officers (bar Denton) are killed, and the witness taken to Intensive Care in hospital. Suspicion from internal Police investigators falls on Denton, with DS Steve Arnott and DC Georgia Trotman joining Supt Ted Hastings in questioning her. Their colleague Kate Fleming refuses to join the investigation because she trained with Akers. Denton protests her innocence, though she is assured that she is being interviewed as a witness, not a suspect. When Fleming follows Denton to a payphone one afternoon, she learns that the number Denton dialled was the hospital where the witness is being treated. After Denton heads to see her mother at a local care home, Fleming informs Arnott and Trotman, who run to investigate. When they reach the witness, an assassin is injecting the witness with something lethal. Arnott is knocked out, and Trotman is thrown out of a window.

I started this review by saying holy shit, and I’m going to repeat it again, in capitals, with full stops.

HOLY. SHIT.

I can’t emphasise enough just how much of a holy shit moment the end of this episode is. Seeing Trotman thrown out of the window like that is completely out of the blue and shockingly brutal, and my jaw took a while to come back up from the ground. Clearly, Line of Duty is another show that isn’t afraid to dispense with characters to further the story. The initial deaths of the police officers at the beginning of the episode, which kicks off the entire story is also difficult to watch.

At the heart of all this is DI Lindsay Denton, played brilliantly by Keeley Hawes. I’ve already been back and forth several times from believing her innocent to believing her innocent. There are any number of explanations we could offer for her shady actions (she takes off her neck brace because she doesn’t want her mum to see it and worry; she was calling the hospital  because she’s pregnant and wants to check on some test results), but it isn’t looking good for her. Especially after she showed her brutal side in attacking her neighbour (though to be fair, with the possible PTSD, worries about finances and having to listen to crap music blaring through the walls in the early hours, she’s not the only one who would snap). Then there are the moments to undoubtedly put the viewer on her side, the main of course being where she has her head flushed down the toilet by some of her colleagues. I found that scene a little hard to swallow if I’m perfectly honest, and I was convinced it was a dream sequence for a while, but we all react to grief differently, so...

I’m sure that I’d benefit from seeing Series 1 to learn a bit more about Fleming and Arnott, but already I like the way that Arnott seems genuinely open minded yet cynical, and Fleming is biased because she knew Akers and wants to see justice for her friend. The other characters have plenty to peak my interest, such as Hastings strained relationship with his wife and Deputy Chief Constable Dryden, who gives the impression that he wants swift justice which could see Denton unfairly implicated. Jessica Raines as Trotman was particularly excellent, and it’s a shame that we won’t see more of her.

Just like Broadchurch, this has got me hooked right from the beginning. If I wasn’t half asleep at the keyboard now then I’d be watching episode 2 right away. I know the series is going to twist back and forth, and to be honest I’ll be shocked if it turns out Denton is guilty (call it gut instinct), but I know I’m going to thoroughly enjoy finding out. 

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 6 - The Age of Steel

Revisiting Doctor Who - Series 2, Episode 6 - The Age of Steel

Continuing on from last week...

Where were we? Oh, yeah...Cybermen! About to delete a surrendering Doctor! Cue title sequence!

Well, we needn’t have worried. The Doctor unleashes a super-charged-by-that-bit-from-the-TARDIS-that-he’s-charging nuclear blast from his sonic screwdriver and vaporises the crap out of the Cybermen. They all leg it, The Doctor telling Pete that everyone in the house is dead, so he’ll have to forget about Jackie. Who is actually still alive, hiding in a small room.

In the van, they all argue about who’s bad guy and who isn’t – Pete was working for Lumic (the bad guy from the first episode, if you’ve forgotten) to give the security services information, and Ricky is actual London’s Most Wanted for parking tickets, which is pretty hardcore. The Doctor says they just need to find the authorities and report him for being a naughty man, but from his base, Lumic has other ideas. He sends a secret signal into the population of London’s ear pods, which sends them towards Cyber-factories like zombies.

The group split up, looking for Lumic’s base of operations. Mickey and Ricky head one way, but Ricky gets electrocuted to death after the pair get split up. Rose, The Doctor, Pete and Mrs Moore have a narrow escape, too. At Battersea Power Station, Lumic’s base, Michael Caine Mr Crane is brought before his former boss, and manages to damage his breathing equipment before the Cybermen electrocute him. The Cybermen want to upgrade Lumic to stop his pain, and he’s not too happy about it, but they wheel him away to a conversion chamber.

Mickey meets back up with the group, letting them know of Ricky’s death. They find Battersea Power Station, plotting a way in; Pete and Rose will wear fake ear pods to fool the Cybermen, Ricky will disable the ear pod transmitter in the zeppelin, whilst The Doctor and Mrs Moore will enter from the tunnels below. Oh, hang on, we’re forgetting someone again...oh, yeah, what’s Mickey going to do? Go with Jake apparently.

Inside the tunnels, The Doctor and Mrs Moore immediately run into a load of already-converted Cybermen, awaiting activation. Outside, Rose and Pete slip the ear pods in, and successfully join a line of people. Jake and Mickey make their way onto the zeppelin after knocking out the guards. Back in the tunnels, the Cybermen begin waking up, and The Doctor and Mrs Moore just escape through a ceiling hatch in time. In the main building, Rose and Pete find Jackie – she’s a Cyber(wo)man, which sucks for their relationship, frankly. Jake and Mickey are in the control room of the zeppelin, looking for the transmitter controls, and finding empty Cybermen skeletons in the closet. Mrs Moore manages to disable a Cyberman with an EMP, and when they open it up they find it has a metal heart, human nervous system and emotion-inhibitor to stop them realising what has happened and going insane. Unfortunately, this downed Cyberman’s inhibitor has broken and it’s still alive (and by Christ, if you don’t choke up slightly here you’re as dead as a Cyberman with a functional emotion-inhibitor). After putting it to sleep, The Doctor declares the inhibitor to be the key – if they can find the right frequency then they can shut them all down. It would kill them, but if would stop them killing everyone else. Like Mrs Moore, who stands up and gets killed. The Doctor is taken away as an ‘unknown upgrade’.

Back in the control room, Jake and Mickey decide to crash the zeppelin as the easiest way of turning off the signal, but they trigger a silent alarm that starts to wake the Cyberman in the cupboard. The Doctor is taken to a holding room where he finds Rose and Pete. They learn that Lumic has been upgraded to Cyber-Controller, who promptly arrives on a futuristic version of the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. Before he can do anything to them, Mickey tricks the Cyberman into punching the transmitter control box, severing the connection to the ear pods. Everyone begins to come to, legging it past the Cyber army. The Doctor points out that by doing all of this, there will be no more advancements, and that would suck, basically. Using a secret code of calling Mickey an idiot out loud, so that Mickey can hear over the CCTV footage, he gets said idiot to locate the code and send it to Rose’s phone. All the Cybermen start freaking out, noticing what they’ve become and literally all blow their minds. As Lumic stays behind to burn, The Doctor, Rose and Pete flee to the roof as Mickey and Jake wait for them in the zeppelin. Just as they begin to climb the ladder, it turns out Lumic escaped after all and is coming after them, but Pete uses the sonic screwdriver to burn through the rope and drop him hundreds of feet back to the power station.

Back in the TARDIS, The Doctor puts the power module back inside, recharging it. As Rose bids Pete goodbye, learning that Rose is his daughter in a parallel world, Mickey tells Rose them that he’s dying. His gran is still alive, there is work that can be done, and she has The Doctor. And, gods, I think I’ve got something in my eye because they’re leaking really badly.

Rose and The Doctor arrive back in Jackie’s flat for an emotional reunion, and Mickey and Jake head off to Paris in a van, as all new best friends should.

So, how does this fare compared to the first part? Well, it’s not perfect but it’s good, with plenty of tension, moral dilemmas and a damn good and shocking emotional punch at the end in more ways than one. Mickey leaving isn’t something you’d necessarily anticipate (though he’s obviously been unhappy since episode 1), and as I have no idea whether or this was announced before the original episode was broadcast I’m going to stick with it being a good shock.

Oh, Mickey. Even on a parallel Earth you still end up the butt of the jokes. ‘London’s Most Wanted...For Parking Tickets’. Fighting the system by parking anywhere. Ricky might have a harder edge, but he’s still our Mickey at heart. Noel Clarke is definitely the unsung hero of the first couple of seasons of Who, and he brightened every episode he was in. I don’t remember the show suffering without him as such, but he definitely provided plenty of memorable moments.

It’s often the way the other’s treated him, aswell, that sticks in mind. The Doctor’s face when he realises that they’ve forgotten to give Mickey a task, again, outside Battersea Power Station is priceless. The smile that The Doctor and Rose give each other, compared to the muted farewell they give Mickey before he lives with Jake, also speaks volumes.

I loved, loved, how The Doctor manages to get Mickey to locate the code to shut down the emotional inhibitors. Showing Mickey that he really does respect him (by calling him an idiot) is a great way to end Mickey’s character arc (though he will return a couple of times, of course) as he gets to be the hero he deserves to be. He’s been great as both a comic foil and another human eye on The Doctor, but one that sees the negative of being a companion.

Of course, Tennant and Piper are great as ever. Shaun Dingwall as Pete Tyler has been brilliant with every appearance, and you really do feel for him and Rose that their relationship will never get to be (keep quiet, those of you giving me knowing winks).

On to the negative, there’s just something about the whole storyline that doesn’t quite let it stand with the best stories. I think part of it is just the fact that the Cybermen happen to get built on a parallel world, in an almost exact copy of the originals from our universe, but with a completely different origin. It’s just a bit too convenient.

I’m a bit disappointed in the way that everyone flees the power station by just running past the Cybermen. Yes, there were plenty of them, and perhaps they didn’t stop them because they didn’t want to damage ‘good stock’, but if they are this easy to run away from and push past then they suddenly become a bit pathetic. Surely they would have started electrocuting people as they went past?

So, the zeppelin wheel goes up and down…how does it go left and right? I’m sure there’s a way, but…

In other Who-lore, is this the first use of ‘I’m sorry, I’m so sorry’ when The Doctor tends to the fallen Cyber(wo)man? The President used it in the previous episode, but I don’t recall Tennant using it before then. It’ll be his signature catchphrase from now on, of course. And talk about tugging on your emotional heartstrings – the woman, Sally Field, who has been turned into this Cyber(wo)man, is meant to be getting married tomorrow – blimey, I thought my heart was breaking!

The solution, killing them all by turning off the emotional-inhibitor is the kind of genocidal conundrum that our favourite Time Lord has found himself in before, of course. His reaction is a lot calmer than when he last had to make a choice to kill everyone (the Daleks and humans in The Parting of the Ways), asking Mrs Moore whether or not it was something they could do, and just like when he wiped out both the Daleks and the Time Lords it comes down to numbers – by doing so, more lives will be saved. Horrible ethical conundrum, but I’m glad the show never shies away from this sort of thing.

In the same vein, the idea of someone doing something evil in the hope of prolonging life is a staple classic of Science-Fiction, but in this case The Doctor’s point that it would kill imagination, when imagination is what brought him this idea, kills dead any argument that Lumic could possibly have.

There’s a couple of great quotes:

Mickey: You’re just making this up!

Doctor: Yuuuuup. But I do it brilliantly.

Yes you do, Doctor. That’s why you’re awesome.

‘Oh Lumic, you’re a clever man. I’d call you a genius but I’m in the room’

The Doctor’s ego, ladies and gentleman! Brilliant as ever!

‘All reject stock will be incinerated’

That’s pretty...shitty. Not good enough to be a Cyberman so they burn the parts. You suck, Cybermen. You suck.

The music really is superb, with the Cybermen theme probably one of my favourite Murray Gold compositions. It helps build up their menace, and leaves us in no doubt that what’s about to happen isn’t going to be good. The music is consistently one of the strongest elements of new-Who, and I’m glad that the composer always seems to get the recognition he deserves.

Torchwood Mentions

None

Overall

It’s a strong end to a two-parter, though it’s not quite up there with new-Who’s strongest multi-episode arcs. A great episode for Mickey fans, with strong emotional and moral punches that should leave you with a few tears by the end.

8/10

Comic Book Review – Asterix and the Picts

Comic Book Review – Asterix and the Picts

Recommended for all ages

This is a big moment for the Asterix series. For the first time ever, Albert Uderzo has handed over the reins to a new creative team, author Jean-Yves Ferri and illustrator Didier Conrad. This is both a very exciting and a very nerve-wracking development for several reasons. The first is the obvious worry of whether or not this new creative team can match the giddy heights that Uderzo and Rene Goscinny reached with the very best Asterix stories. Secondly, you’re unlikely to find a fan that doesn’t believe the books have gone a little downhill in recent times, so the chance to have some new direction is much the same as Disney acquiring the rights to Star Wars. It’s unfair to level too much criticism at Uderzo, who took over the writing side of the stories upon the death of Goscinny, because this wasn’t his role in the earliest and best years. Personally, I think he’s done a brilliant job keeping it going, with the exception of his last full Asterix publication, Asterix and the Falling Sky, which I have to say was one of the biggest disappointments and blights on a series that I love since the Star Wars prequel trilogy.

That’s a bit of a lengthy introduction to a general review, so it’s probably time for me to endeth the history lesson and get on with the main show. So, does this show the Asterix series back on track? In a word, yes, Definitely. It’s fun, full of adventure, and the new team have recreated that classic Asterix-humour perfectly, from the word play in the character’s names, to banter between them all. It’s also due, of course, to the translator (shouldn’t forget this with a foreign language to English book!) Anthea Bell, who has translated every Asterix book from the very beginning. This includes the names in particular, and there’s a wonderful running joke of ‘Mac’s’ throughout this story that continues her fine tradition.

In the story, a frozen Pict (MacAroon) washes up on the shores of the Gaulish village. Asterix and Obelix vow to return him to his village in Caledonia, and find out who was responsible for pushing him into the water in the first place. When they get there, they have to help stop the perpetrator from proclaiming himself King of the Picts, and find where his fiancé has been imprisoned. It feels just like a classic Asterix adventure, in the vein of Asterix in Britain (for obvious reasons), and it’s leaps and bounds ahead of Falling Sky (though that’s not hard).

Didier Conrad has recreated Uderzo’s drawing style faultlessly – there’s no way at all you could tell it wasn’t done by the original illustrator if you weren’t told beforehand. It’s a key factor to retaining the feel of the original books, and it further cements the fact that the series is in safe hands.

I’m eagerly awaiting the next instalment, and with a younger team (and fantastic translator!) overseeing the series’ future I hope we’ll see further books much more regularly. If you’re a big Asterix fan, this will restore your faith in the adventures of Gaul’s greatest heroes.

8/10

DVD Review - Frozen

DVD Review - Frozen

Suitable for Everyone

Last year, there was no way to avoid the hype surrounding Disney's latest animated offering, Frozen. Critics were falling over themselves to proclaim it the best that Disney has produced since The Little Mermaid/Beauty and the Beast/Aladdin/The Lion King (whichever is your favourite, take your pick), which is some damn high praise as those are some of the greatest and most beloved children's films of all time. Hell, for me The Lion King is one of the greatest films of all time full stop. I missed it when it first came out in the cinema, but I've finally had the chance to see if it lives up to its promise now that it's out on DVD. It would so easy to get fed up with hearing how amazing it is, that your view would be coloured firmly in the anti-Frozen corner before the disc had even started playing, so it was with a certain trepidation that my wife and I sat down to watch it.

Quite simply, Frozen is absolutely stunning.

The last time I had this feeling about a children's film was when I saw The Lion King for the first time, and I can only imagine that's the same feeling that children all over the world have been experiencing since they first saw this. We've had some brilliant animated films in the last 20 years (think how much of a game changer Toy Story, Shrek and Wall-E have been), but something about Frozen made me get that special feeling inside that I haven't had for two decades. It nails that perfect Disney charm in a way that no other company can do, populated with a perfect cast, catchy show-stopping tunes and stunning visuals.

The story itself is a re-imagining of Hans Christian Anderson's The Snow Queen, which I have to admit I really don't know anything about. Nor do I need to now, to be honest, because it wouldn't be able to replace the story here. It's the tale of two sisters, Elsa the elder, and Anna the younger, princesses in the kingdom of Arendelle. Elsa has magical powers to create ice and snow which she struggles to control, and when Anna's life is put is threatened, all memory of them have to be wiped from her memory. The king and queen lock the gates to the kingdom so that no-one can discover Elsa's magic until it can be more tightly controlled. Where the sisters used to play, now Elsa refuses to come out of her room to see Anna.

Years later, after their parents death, Elsa's coronation as queen is due to take place. When Anna falls in love at the afterparty, Elsa's anger at her sudden betrothal to a man she has barely known five minutes (Hans) leads to her revealing her powers, freezing the whole kingdom and most of the surrounding mountains in the process. Elsa flees, setting up her own ice palace far away, but when Anna tries to get her to return with the help of ice merchant Kristoff, his reindeer Sven and snowman-come-to-life Olaf, Elsa isn't willing to come home, and Anna must find a way to convince her to come home and rid the kingdom of the ice and snow that now engulfs it.

Right from the beginning there are plenty of heart-wrenching moments (think Mufasa's death in The Lion King and you're getting close), and the characters are so wonderfully realised that it's impossible not to get emotionally caught up in their tale. All the voice cast are wonderful, but it's Kristen Bell as Anna and Idina Menzel as Anna and Elsa who really stand out. I never knew Kristen Bell could sing so well (Idina Menzel I knew could), but they're perfect as the sisters who so want to be as close as they used to be, but can't find a way. The combination of Kristoff and Sven is great to see, and there's plenty to boo at when one character turns out to not be who we thought they were.

There's only one character for me that doesn't work brilliantly, and unfortunately that's Olaf. He's good, with some very funny bits, but he just isn't quite on the same level as other Disney companions like Timon and Pumbaa, Flounder or Genie. Nothing at all against Josh Gad who provides his voice, but I feel as though unlike those mentioned above you could take him out and it wouldn't affect the film at all, bar one key scene towards the end. Still, it's a very minor flaw in the grand scheme of things, and doesn't detract from the overall quality.

The music really is fantastic (you'll probably be quite familiar with 'Let It Go' by now), reminding me of the Tangled soundtrack, of which I'm a big fan. Recently, there's been a different feel to Disney soundtracks than their traditional songs, but it works really well here, even if there are only two songs that will probably stand the test of time (compared to the four or five that are on most of the biggest Disney film soundtracks). The animation too is breathtaking, particularly when Elsa uses her ice powers to build her palace. Every part of the production is of the highest levels, and it's no wonder the film garnered as much praise as it did.

I'm not lying when I say that I had a feeling inside me after watching it that I haven't felt for 20 years. It's the feeling that you've seen something you'll be telling people about for years to come, and that will be cropping up on 'best of' lists for decades. It's something incredibly special, where practically everything comes together perfectly, and creates something magical in the way that only Disney can. It's imperative that you see this as soon as possible, no matter how old you are, because it's brilliant enough to make you feel like a child again, discovering a film that will stay with you for life. Bravo Disney, bravo.

10/10