Who hasn’t read Famous Five? If not then read it now! But today we are here with The Famous Five review for all the “Five” lovers. Let’s check it out.
Adults are so stupid. They just don’t listen when their kids tell them about stranger danger. “Mum and Dad,” wails George two-thirds of the way through this feature-length adaptation of Enid Blyton’s first Famous Five novel, “that guy’s an insane maniac who locked us in a crypt!”
“I’m not interested in what you’ve got to say,” says George’s mum. “You’ve got to grow up and that’s an end to it.”
George’s mother, pity is me. Do you not realize that the only way your daughter and her cousins, Julian, Anne, and Dick, along with Timmy the dog. How they were able to escape the London crypt in the Temple church was by excavating a hole that led to a nearby Tube platform? And that currently they are attempting to prevent a readily available megalomaniacal narcissist named Wentworth. It is from obtaining a mystical relic from an island off the coast of Dorset? Not at all? Yes, George’s mother, you ought to.
The Famous Five Review
In simple terms, George’s moustachioed adversary believes that treasure—likely looted from a Syrian church during the Crusades—is hidden in the 12th-century Knights Templar church on Kirrin Island. And that if he gets his hands on it, he will be able to see into the future for reasons that are too intricate to discuss right now. Not only will he be able to predict the winner of the 2.30pm race at Kempton Park, but he will also be able to subjugate the entire planet with his cunning.
None of this comes back to me from reading Enid Blyton’s 1942 book. Not ten years ago when I read it to my daughter, nor when I read it to myself as a boy. Author Matthew Read has added to Enid Blyton’s fantastical universe with witty references to Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code, Moonfleet, Swallows and Amazons, and Indiana Jones, among other well-known figures. As a result, Read and producer Nicolas Winding Refn have freed the Famous Five from the shackles of inconsistency. Ironically, this plays the drama straight, which makes it even more ridiculous.
The only thing I do remember from the books that chimes with this is that George didn’t like being called Georgina. “I am not,” she tells some grownup, “a little girl.” To which no one sees fit to reply: “George, mate, you can be anything you want.”
More About The Famous Five
Diaana Babnicova plays George as a free-spirited tomboy with attitude to spare, and a pair of trainers that, if I was being picky, probably didn’t exist in 1940s’ England. “Isn’t that a boy’s name?” asks one of her stuck-up cousins when they arrive in Dorset for the summer. “The last person who called me Georgina got a slap,” says George. Well, I certainly don’t remember her saying that in the novel. The setting may be 1942, but the dialogue is definitely not.
This seems mean-spirited, given one critic has already termed it an incredibly boring journey. This reworking of Blyton, however, is more restrained than anything else on Refn’s resume. It saves from opening credits that appear to be supposed to make viewers’ eyes bleed. That is, aside from his surprise attempt at directing a Miss Marple film.
Values and Plot Of Famous Five
Racism and misogyny are two things that Blyton is frequently mocked for. The patriarchy is subtly challenged because George, not Julian, is the obvious leader of the Famous Five. Is your dad in possession of a Latin dictionary? When George wishes to translate an inscription on a Templar chalice, Dick asks. “No, but Mom has,” I said. Here, George is also black, which would have gone against Blyton’s philosophies, I believe. Even though it’s 1942, the show still complies with 2023’s diversity standards.
This episode, The Curse of Kirrin Island, should be essential viewing for George Osborne and other British Museum bigwigs, and indeed anyone who suspects plundering foreign artifacts is ethically unproblematic.
At the end of the episode, though, Wentworth being a grownup has learned nothing. Instead, we see him concocting more schemes for world domination, thus teeing up a sequel. A sequel in which, no doubt, he will be repeatedly outwitted by four plucky kids and their no less impressive dog. Adults are so stupid.
Also Read: “Jules” review: Another Interesting Plot to Binge Watch
