Judy & Punch

This is understandably a quite dark and grim film, in terms of the themes. While it may be categorised as a comedy film, this is not an out and out humorous film as such - its definitely very much dark comedy, just to make that clear. It's very much a re-telling of a folk tale. I liked the costumes and I'd say its definitely got a sinister feel to it. Sinister and somewhat atmospheric, I suppose. I thought that, certainly with the first scene depicting a puppet show, that it reminded me a little of the puppet scenes from 'Being John Malkovich' - mainly as its also a dark film, both in terms of the lighting and settings mostly being in the evening or night and in terms of the not very light thematic elements. I did feel that Damon Herriman gave a decent performance as Punch. He is fairly animated (in his gestures etc., rather than it being at all an animated film, of course) and has somewhat of a presence on screen, I'd say. I wasn't familiar with the actor previously, so that stood out to me somewhat. I can't say I thought a great deal of what could be described as a Gladiator-esque moment though. There are one or two pretty decently choreographed moments/scenes as well. Its more of a dark drama than its an out and out period drama, although it is clearly set very much in the past. It centres on working class England, rather than well off families living in castles on high, certainly. This film felt like it was missing something but i'm not sure I can put my finger on what exactly. I suppose it may be that I know the story roughly and knew it'd be dark and fairly depressing and maybe I wanted to hope there would be more in the way of complicated context given but that isn't really the case. Its not a badly made film, not an especially great one but I'd say its worth a watch, if the story of Punch & Judy is one that interests you, particularly in terms of the social historical aspect of it.

Definitely NOT Comedy .... well Shot , It passed the time but Comedy it was not .. Entertaining enough though if you're bored.

Awesome soundtrack, Great Characters, Very Easy Plot to Follow, Feel Good Ending. Whats not to love? Makes you feel like your back in the 1800's, but also has timeless elements of the beloved US justice system.

Clever reframing of Punch and Judy. Not for kids, but then I never thought the original Punch and Judy was appropriate for kids. This one is puts feminism and otherness in a 16th century setting which is rather fun, even introducing Tai Chi in the middle ages. Great cast, especially the Judy character and the outcast women.

Enjoyed the grim fairy-tale like feel and was quality enough to watch as part of a subscription. Would not necessarily rent.

What would have made one hell of a good 30 minute "Tales from the Crypt" episode gets stretched very thin in a 90 minute movie. Case in point, the third and fourth acts of the film could both have been cut as they are just a series of pointless montages that do more to confuse the timeline then advance the plot. The tone of horror and comedy never quit lands ...until the 5th act where it all comes together well. The music is hideous, it seems most of it was just placeholders that were just left in. The director also decide to set it in a fictional "time" more out of laziness then any plot reasons.

The tone of the movie is all wrong. Or, better said, the different tones are all right, but they cannot blend for the life of them. Shame. The good thing is that you need the whole movie to figure that out, so at least you will reach the end without too many complications.

Pretty good but hard watch at times

The tone is all over the place, and the movie becomes an amateurish romp with no backbone. It is completely unmoored. There are at least four distinctly different tones, and put together they make an inane movie. Not one of these massive shifts works at all, and every one is a huge shark jump. The movie comes across as confusing and stupid. Even so, I got through it okay, not hating it, but close. I would not recommend it.

A genre-bending period drama with fairly chewable renaissance and feminist implications that would keep you entertained.