Comments and Opinions... (contains SPOILERS!)
Hello,
As a fan of The 39 Steps, from the novel to all the adaptations, I thought I'd jot down a few comments and opinions on this new production...
1) Rupert Penry-Jones was badly miscast as Hannay. He was quite wooden throughout, and is too much in the obvious 'action hero' mould; good looking, muscular guy. Hannay is meant to be an everyman figure, an ordinary chap thrown into a situation he doesn't understand. Eddie Marsan, who played an Anglicised Scudder, was impressive though, and David Haig did well.
2) Victoria. All adaptations have featured a female sidekick, but this character was too unbelievable for me. As a previous poster has pointed out, she seemed to be written as the lead hero, rather than a supporting character. It was okay making her a fiesty suffragette, but many of her actions were just plain baffling.
3) The ending was quite good I felt, with the German U-boat being much more faithful to the book than any of the other adaptations. Though the film-makers relocated it to a Scottish loch, rather than the south coast of England, I was happy to see this ending rather than a rehash of the Mr. Memory idea. In this version, the meaning of the '39 steps' was very close to the original novel.
4) The scene where Hannay posed as the Liberal spokesman and had to deliver a speech was poorly written and filmed, I thought. There was no tension or humour in the scene, especially compared with the Donat and Powell versions.
5) The escape from the train - a classic element in all other adaptations - was largely a waste of time, especially that pointless interlude with the ventriloquist's dummy.
6) The filming of the Scottish Highlands was nicely done. Even in a poorly made film like this, the scenery was spectacular and more should have been made of it. The CGI filming of the U-Boat in the loch was quite nicely done.
7) The ending was a little confusing. Hannay thought Victoria had been killed by the Germans, only to discover four months later she was still alive. What does this mean? Either she wanted the Secret Service Bureau to think she was dead so she could escape from her life as a spy and lead a normal life (in that case, why keep Hannay in the dark all that time?) or the Service knew she was alive but wanted people to think she was dead so they could use her in undercover work? The message given to Hannay from Victoria (by Harry) at the train station was that she would see him after the war, perhaps indicating she was still in the employ of the Service...
8) Linking the plot to the real-life assassination of Arch Duke Franz Ferdinand, rather than the fictional Karolides from the novel and 1978 film), was quite nice, I thought. This placed the fictional story into more of a real-life context.
In conclusion, this adaptation was better, in my opinion, than the Kenneth More film (which was just too deriviative of the classic Donat version), but cannot hold a candle to the Donat and Powell versions. It's worth watching and stands up in its own right as decent entertainment, but pales in comparison to the earlier two films.
Sorry this was a long read...lol. Thanks for getting through it all (those of you who did!).