The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) Dir: John Madden
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This sequel, like so many before, had a very good film to live up to. I'd been looking forward to watching this for some time, and I'm happy to say I wasn't disappointed by what I saw.
The first film was wonderfully crafted and told a number of pleasant and wholesome stories, and this was a trend that continued on in this 2015 sequel. I haven't decided which narrative I prefer between the two, but I thoroughly enjoyed both.
There was plenty of solid character development, which is something sequels often fail to provide, so I was very happy to see that.
Director John Madden uses the 2 hour runtime to explore some subplots and arcs in far more detail, and allows some key characters to flourish and grow.
Judi Dench once again has a substantial role and continues her character's developments with her trademark quality acting - she gives one of the best performances of anyone in the film.
Maggie Smith is once again magnificent in her role for this sequel, although the bulk of her character development was completed in the prior film.
Dev Patel continues to show just how good he is, providing another superb performance as my favourite character in both films.
Tina Desai has far more to do this time around, and absolutely delivers on her potential - her character development is also subtle but very satisfying.
Another returning face is Bill Nighy, who is always value for money - and with his character's arc finally completing, it left me very satisfied with his performance.
Celia Imrie also returns, and has an intriguing little arc that might not be at the centre of attention, but still progresses nicely, leading to a wholesome re-equilibrium.
A returning Ronald Pickup is another who has more of a subplot arc, but still manages to near maximise his screentime, giving a fairly good performance.
The arc between Richard Gere and Lillete Dubey allowed both actors to really flourish, particularly Dubey, who had a far smaller role in the previous production.
Finally, I'll mention the likes of Penelope Wilton, Diana Hardcastle, Tamsin Greig, Shubhrajyoti Barat and Shazad Latif, whom all deserve praise for their respective performances despite far less screentime.
Overall, this was another pleasant story that links well to the original film but manages to create a fresh and easy to invest in story that doesn't feel like an unnecessary addition.
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