- Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears
If you're a fan of the Miss Fisher series on television I'm sure you'll enjoy this film version. I had the same reaction to this film that I had with the Downton Abbey movie and while it looks good on a big screen Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears is like a genteel version of Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom without the Action.
I know it's just escapist crime fiction fun with improbable plot lines like how Miss Fisher is resurrected at her memorial service after being reported deceased by the World media after being trapped on the roof of a speeding (model) train travelling through a tunnel in the desert with no mountains. I prefer Detecting DCI Vera Stanhope as my crime solving heroine or for milder rustic crime solving Miss Marple.
Essie Davis is one of our best actresses and she is perfect as Miss Phryne Fisher but I find the character very one dimensional and while I was a Miss Fisher fan when the series began she and the stories lost my interest after the 2nd series . I also for some bizarre reason have never liked movies set in a desert , these were filmed on location in Morocco. One other notable criticism that may work on television but not on the Cinema Screen is the use of model trains pretending to be real it's too obvious in this film and also the camel ride close ups are obviously filmed in the studio on mechanical saddles.
Perhaps I'm biased a little about this film and it has all the fine production values of the television series (costumes sets etc ) of the series and I hope it does well.