Even though I loved the film, believing it to a great tribute to the OS-DS, I didn't find it perfect. Hardly. I thought the sex scenes were gratuitous. I thought that the one between Barnabas and Angelique was too way-over-the-top; I think it would've worked better if it would've cut out all the shenanigans as they "made love" and just cut to the two of them sitting there in the wrecked office. Leave what happened up to the imagination of the viewer. Likewise, the one between Barnabas and Julia was just, well, downright icky.
At the end of the film, it just went overboard with throwing in everything from the entire series except the kitchen sink, all in a few minutes. Yes, we got Laura Collins; yes, we got a werewolf, but it just all really didn't fit. To me, it was just a way to set things up for sequels. They should've stayed with subtlety, as when it turns out that the reincarnation of Josette is Maggie Evans, not Victoria. That's a solid tribute to DS orthodoxy, not the '91 or '04 versions that committed, shall we say, "blasphemy."
I think, over time, the '12 DS will grow on its detractors. After all, when the '91 aired, for all its glitz and glamor, I absolutely disliked it. To me, it lacked all subtlety, was just a re-hashed version of HoDS, was (save for a few characters) totally miscast, poorly written, directed and acted. And don't forget those - gulp - palm trees!!! I didn't miss a single episode, but I didn't like it. When it left the air, I thought "no big loss." It could've been done so much better. But over time, watching it in reruns on Sci-Fi ("SyFy") as well as on Hulu, and its recounting here, it grew on me. I began to appreciate certain things about it and found out, despite its many faults, it wasn't that bad and, with work if it had continued, it could've become something rather good if not great. Time heals all wounds.
Gerard
