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| About Tom * Chick Reid * Gallery * Interviews * Films * TV Theatre * FAQ * About Ground Control * Contact Info * Links |
| The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne - The Black Glove of Melchizidek 2000 Director: Pierre de Lespinois Writer: Trevor Preston Cast: Chris Demetral, Michael Praed, Francesca Hunt, Michel Courtemanche Character: Vargas Plot: Fogg is sent a mysterious glove in the mail, and within 24 hours his house has been robbed, his cousin has been kidnapped, and Jules has been visited by a tattooed man who is soon thereafter incinerated in the street. Review: As this series has never been shown in the UK, this is the only episode I've seen, but it was fairly easy to follow. Despite the motley assortment of accents, and a plot which doesn't exactly lend itself to serious critical examination, the cast are commendably straight-faced about the whole affair. It owes obvious debts in this episode at least to Christopher Lee's Fu Manchu escapades (although it is better done than most of them) and indeed to The Devil Rides Out, and this portrayal of upper class London merged with the fantastical is very well done. Not believable, of course, but it's never meant to be, and the scale of the thing, from London to Paris via Chinese intrigue is deceptively good. Tom takes on the role of general bad guy, spirit creature and possible devil Vargas, whose main aim in life is to wear black, glare at small boys, and say "Give me the glove" a lot. Interestingly, for a man who sets people on fire and dodges bullets, Tom's portrayal makes him still very definitely human, where the script leaves us guessing as to his background, and this sets him above the mere Satan-stand in he could have been. Still, his set of special effects are quite impressive, even if the end fight scene is brilliant only in its complete lack of any physical contact. The way Vargas is dispatched is somewhat disappointing, as he is a much more sinister character than the other bad guys, the Chinese gang, but the entire show has enough panache to carry off most of what it attempts. Trivia: Shot in high-definition video. And, if you hadn't noticed, Tom wears a wig. |