Initially I was hesitant to watch this one out of sheer fear that it may disappoint, such is the high bar set by its nemesis in the movie format. There have been many attempts to portray the legendary assassin since then, but none can match the brilliance of Edward Fox. Though Eddie Redmayne came a lot closer, the shades of emotion added to his character gave it away.
I would definitely give Ronan Bennet 4 stars for writing a brilliant plot and the director(s) another 4 stars for tight execution. Editing is crisp. Kudos to the editors team. Camera work is brilliant too. May be those are not the best, but having lived in London, I Loved the shots of its skyline. But what disappoints is characters.
We have a clumsy, arrogant and narcissist agent who fails again and again but yet she is considered as the best for some unknown reasons. May be the creators are just riding the wave of feminism which compels every filmmaker to add one or more superstrong female character(s), even if that is totally unnecessary. Portraying her as a 'normal' agent would have helped.
Then we have a rich guy who is suddenly going against the principles of capitalism and trying to bring transparency in financial world! Hello, which planet are we on?
Then lastly, The Jackal! The baggage of a family and emotions seems stretched a bit far. That seems a lot unlike 'The Jackal'. Some other assassins might be like that, but somehow a legendary character like this does not fit that frame.
I wanted to give 3.5 stars, but that is not an option, hence 4 stars. I will look forward to season 2, but I doubt it will do any better.