Hot Off The Press - Houdini part 2

The first part to Houdini was exciting, fast-paced and well-acted as it charted the rise and life of the man himself. Albeit a few artistic liberties that saw him work as a spy across Europe, the show has provided an entertaining account of an extraordinary figure who continuously puts himself in harm's way to please the audience and satisfy himself. Now, with part two, the show continues with his life and the inevitable fall.

As a film, the rise and fall stories generally work quite well, but when divided it's hard not to feel somewhat detached going in for round two. But before the fall of Houdini's life, we see his dangerous obsession with performing dangerous escapes and his involvement with contacting the dead as he meets Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

Unfortunately, this doesn't quite weigh up to the previous excitement as Houdini explored prewar Europe. By the time the war comes around, the show covers it all in a neat montage that fits the tone but I couldn't help but feel that something was lost in the process. Also, Houdini's grand performance as he jumps into a frozen river, awkwardly cuts before we see him rise out victorious. Instead, we're left with Houdini as his ticket sales fall and his attempts to prove that it is impossible to contact the dead.

That said, Adrien Brody is still fantastic as Houdini himself but the script, while decent, isn't as strong as last time. The problem being that we've seen the rise and fall story many times before, and while it may start in different ways, it often ends the same. This isn't helped by a particularly weak final act where a few more post-Houdini scenes may have helped.

My best advice is to watch parts one and two together for the full experience as this is a very entertaining miniseries. Visually, it's spot on and never looks cheap. Overall, Houdini is fun to watch, but part two lacks the engagement of the first and would have benefited from a shorter running time.