17/05/2011

RA-NDOM THOUGHTS - THE STRIKE BACK DILEMMA

Andrew Lincoln, Richard Armitage and  Orla Brady  in Strike Back 1 

John Porter is back!  "John Porter is back" is, at least, what  they say on SKY1 HD Strike Back official site. The dilemma is : is he "really" back? For how long? Is he going to come out (alive) of the tight and tough situation he's in in the opening episode of series 2? From being a rescuer in series 1, he's been turned into the one to be rescued in series 2. This Project Dawn (the title of this second series) sounds more like Project Sunset to me!


Are you ready to pass from this version of John Porter, tough, healthy, flawed but redeemable, anyhow apparently unbeatable
 

to this version, the beaten  suffering prisoner who's going to be saved( I hope!) by the two new lead - men (Philip Winchester and Sullivan Stapleton) all muscles and tattoos?  


I'm not so enthusiastic about the new promo. It's just a continuous déjà -vu sensation. Fact is, I managed to cope with this totally-alien-to-me genre, only for what Richard Armitage did and said of his John Porter. Now, what of him? Are they going to sacrifice this character as it has already happened to Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood or Lucas North in Spooks? It might happen. And it would be another painful sacrifice.
From New Zealand to South Africa to shoot just a few scenes (Richard was spotted with Sullivan Stapleton filming several scenes on Wednesday 13 April in a quarry out in the Northern suburbs of Cape Town. Read more HERE ). Let's hope it was worth it. After huge-screen glimpses of RA  in July with Captain America, some more satellite-TV glimpses of RA with Strike Back 2 Project Dawn. 
August, it seems. To see what will be of John Porter. No fixed dates yet, but Strike Back 2 will be aired on Sky HD and on Cinemax US next summer.

bccmmee's graphics of the day - May 17th

7 comments:

bccmee said...

I do wonder what is to become of John Porter. Based on the promos, the new series does not continue the previous storyline. If Richard Armitage had been available, he probably would have been teamed up with an American protagonist for the American audience. I suspect he would've played the role now filled by Philip Winchester. Of course, there is no way of knowing and it's all conjecture at this point.

However, I am hopeful that John Porter will stay alive! Richard Armitage may soon be too busy in films to spend much time on TV anymore, even such big-budget productions such as Strike Back. Only time will tell....

Anonymous said...

I think RA will be in a cameo role, just to "pass the ball" to the new protagonist.

If that means we will have more and more of him in the big screen, then it's OK.

Still, I don't want the writers kill John Porter, our great modern hero...

Aldebaran

Phylly3 said...

I can't bear any more RA bloodshed! :( MI-6 should retire Porter with honours for the sorry way they treated him. Layla knows the truth, so she can vouch for him. Besides, if those two new burly men can't rescue John Porter then they don't deserve to be MI-6! Porter rescued Katie all by himself!!

Maria Grazia said...

@bccmee
First I love what you are doing on your blog day by day. I admire what you explain astonished and go on with my certainty I'll never learn! Keep up with the terrific job! Thanks for your contribution to the discussion here.
@Aldebaran & Phylly
Fingers crossed we do not have to witness the tragic death of our hero for the third time! Thank you very much for your lively, heartfelt comments!

Anonymous said...

Looks like the 'new' SB is in fact a remake of the 'old' SB. Just have a look at the scenes in the trailer: the shocking abduction on the road; the hostage (poor JP!) held by terrorists; the shirtless fist-fight of the leads in a prison... Of course the script-writers of the new series don't need to provide anything original, since SB1 never aired on U.S. TV, but nevertheless I think this is not fair :-/
As for JP's fate, I agree with Phylly: if neither of those TWO guys is able to rescue our John Porter, they don't deserve to be the lead characters of the series!
K/V

Musa said...

I'm not encouraged either by watching the teaser trailer.

I agree with bccmee that they would have added an American character/hero in any case to attract a US audience, but I also hope they rescue JP, even if it's just a cameo. (How they will explain who Porter is and why rescue him, we'll have to wait and see).

My eyes might have deceived me but I thought Sunday night I saw a couple of short scenes from SB1 in this new trailer, though the voice over changed what it was about (JP looking at a folder w/photo for example).

Maria Grazia said...

@K/V and Musa
What can say? "Copy"
But I'd like to share this impression of mine too.
Reading the witness by Anna , who was on SB2 set in Cape Town, on Alicat's site (www.richardarmitagenet.com) I guess the two new tough American guys may free JP, because she says she saw Richard Armitage and Sullivan Stapleton and that there was "a lot of jumping out, running around with guns and yelling". But we will have to wait and see to know what exactly will be of JP.
Thanks for your thorough contributions!