Having met with lukewarm reviews and a distinct lack of cultural footprint, I put off watching this loose (apparently very loose) biopic series about the birth of the Sex Pistols and the London Punk movement. For what it's worth, I quite enjoyed it.
Steve Jones (Toby Wallace) is squatting in 1970's London, trying to get his rock band off the ground. He meets Vivian Westwood (Talulah Riley) and Malclom Mclaren (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) who agrees to become the bands manager. The pair though have dreams bigger than just having a successful band and want to fundamentally change London on a cultural and philosophical level. They give the band a new frontman and writer, John Lydon (Anson Boon) and the bands rough and energetic style violently divides the audience. Their notoriety grows, but the bitter dividing lines within the band threaten to derail them at every opportunity.
The performances in "Pistols" were great, great enough to carry us through the slightly underwhelming story. It's not necessarily the shows' fault that the actual Sex Pistols burned so bright for just a couple of years before crashing and burning, and they do ring as much as they possible can out of true events, imagined events and adjustments to the timescales to make the story more dramatic. (They do pull quite the magic trick to make the story end on a high point). It feels unfair to single anyone out for any particular praise as, from the band themselves, the management team and even other people, such as Maisie Williams as Pamela Rooke and Francesa Mills as Helen of Troy - who are perhaps a little ancillary to the Pistols story, but vital to the story of Punk, are really well acted.
Danny Boyle keeps the series energy up with a free-wheeling editing style, filtering bits of stock footage occasionally to create a fantasy element to it or set the wider context. The band perform themselves, and I do think some of the energy translates through to the screen.
I can't argue with the reviewers that found it a little saggy, particular the moments dedicated to detours, but I enjoyed it.
Steve Jones (Toby Wallace) is squatting in 1970's London, trying to get his rock band off the ground. He meets Vivian Westwood (Talulah Riley) and Malclom Mclaren (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) who agrees to become the bands manager. The pair though have dreams bigger than just having a successful band and want to fundamentally change London on a cultural and philosophical level. They give the band a new frontman and writer, John Lydon (Anson Boon) and the bands rough and energetic style violently divides the audience. Their notoriety grows, but the bitter dividing lines within the band threaten to derail them at every opportunity.
The performances in "Pistols" were great, great enough to carry us through the slightly underwhelming story. It's not necessarily the shows' fault that the actual Sex Pistols burned so bright for just a couple of years before crashing and burning, and they do ring as much as they possible can out of true events, imagined events and adjustments to the timescales to make the story more dramatic. (They do pull quite the magic trick to make the story end on a high point). It feels unfair to single anyone out for any particular praise as, from the band themselves, the management team and even other people, such as Maisie Williams as Pamela Rooke and Francesa Mills as Helen of Troy - who are perhaps a little ancillary to the Pistols story, but vital to the story of Punk, are really well acted.
Danny Boyle keeps the series energy up with a free-wheeling editing style, filtering bits of stock footage occasionally to create a fantasy element to it or set the wider context. The band perform themselves, and I do think some of the energy translates through to the screen.
I can't argue with the reviewers that found it a little saggy, particular the moments dedicated to detours, but I enjoyed it.