THE COLOUR OF MAGIC is the second of Sky's two-part miniseries adaptations of Terry Pratchett's Discworld series, following on from THE HOGFATHER. This one goes right back to the beginning and features David Jason playing Rincewind the Wizard and Sean Astin as Twoflower the tourist. It's an all-star ensemble piece, packed to the rafters with magical effects with the aid of a copious CGI budget, but the truth is that there's something missing here.
And it's the lack of magic which comes as a real surprise. There's a sense of everybody going through the motions rather than anyone really shining, and the script is perfunctory at best. The humorous one-liners come regularly but somehow they're blunter than they were on the page, and at times I felt like I was watching an amateur dramatics adaptation. Jason and Astin are okay as the leads, but upstaged by supporting players like Tim Curry and David Bradley. Despite the wealth of material I also felt that the three-hour running time was just too long leaving this to drag more than a little.
And it's the lack of magic which comes as a real surprise. There's a sense of everybody going through the motions rather than anyone really shining, and the script is perfunctory at best. The humorous one-liners come regularly but somehow they're blunter than they were on the page, and at times I felt like I was watching an amateur dramatics adaptation. Jason and Astin are okay as the leads, but upstaged by supporting players like Tim Curry and David Bradley. Despite the wealth of material I also felt that the three-hour running time was just too long leaving this to drag more than a little.