23 out of 26 people found the following review helpful:
Prison Break Season Four: Taking a Break from Prisons...
BB9 from ,
11th July, 2009
What a shame -- after three cracking series, Pris4 is fairly rubbish. Even if we fans could overlook the total lack of prison breaks, the perfunctory way certain (what shall I call them?) plot anomalies are glossed over is just, well, an insult to our intelligence. I thought at first that I wasn't enjoying it because Wenty and co. were all keeping their jackets on, so it lacked the sweaty muscularity that made such a delightful contrast to all that hyperintelligent plotting and scheming, but it was more than that. Perhaps the presence of vulnerable women and families to protect, plus the lack of machiavellian supermasculinity that comes with a prison setting, has rendered this just another clapped-out thriller that has passed its best. As ever, the characters inhabit a universe where their hair never grows and a moody look passes for communication, but the gripping-yet-preposterous histrionics are gone, and even the evil poetry of TBag seems watered down and dialled-in. It takes a long time to get going before a brief return to form in the middle. But then the second half is fairly dreadful. I wish I could say something specific about it without giving it away, but I can't so, suffice to say, It uses every televisual cheat in the book. It resurrects characters, takes huge, artless plot leaps, you name it. The pacing is terrible and they even resort to a dream sequence (the only time we see the inside of a prison, incidentally). It is more a '24' style conspiratorial thriller than the campy/brutal rollercoaster of seasons 1 to 3. Think McGyver meets The Prisoner, but not in a good way. Students of Psychoanalytic Film Theory are going to have a field day with -- certain female characters --- and hardcore fans will probably still find it watchable, but let’s just say it was a disappointing, unsatisfactory way to finish the franchise. If you don’t like your faves to let you down you might be better served by cutting your losses and stopping at the end of season 3…
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