Luther Season 4: DVD Review

Luther Season 4: DVD Review

Rating: M
Released by BBC and Roadshow Home Ent

This fourth season of Luther feels more like a book-end than a full literary feast.

At just 2 hour long eps, the mini series feels truncated and scrambled, rather than stunning and immersive.

In the latest ep, John Luther (a weary Idris Elba) has left the force and is retired. But when his nemesis appears to have been killed, he is pulled back into the criminal world. And things are further complicated when a killer appears proving difficult to the force and harder to trace.

Luther's first ep is a great set up- it's a nicely constructed, tautly complex piece of criminal and psychological fare, that potentially will alienate those who don't know the series' backstory.

Unfortunately the second ep is a jumbled concoction of too much going on, a convenient wrap up and a denouement that's hardly deeply engaging. It doesn't help that a new case is brought into the ep midway and wrapped up; it's awkward at best and confusing at worst.

Despite the addition of Game of Thrones star Rose Leslie to the proceedings, the series works best when it's Luther alone, engaging in a game of wits and a sense that he's succumbing to the darkness. It's here Elba employs his perfect touch, but the rest of the serial doesn't quite hit the heights, thanks to its wrapping up of ep 2.

Beautifully shot and with pristine cinematography, Luther Season 4 looks great, so it's just a shame the packaging doesn't quite hold the thrill of the outer coverings.