Like almost everyone, I loved Deadwood when it was on, and it is rightly considered along other greats of the same period. While I was sad it was cancelled, I didn't feel that the season finale was a bad place for the series to end. It fitted with the realism of progress and bigger picture, and it was suitably downbeat and violence in what it did. Many disagreed, and the idea of a movie to close it out has been around for ages. Hence we got this movie, although it really doesn't give 'closure' to the series, only adds to the show in the same way that a holiday special does - in that it does everything the regular series does, but reduced somewhat by virtue of what it is.
So it is here. We get all the comedy, wry and engaging dialogue, moral conflict, violence, unfairness, and cruelty of the show, but done in a very contained way. This means a that a lot feels forced in and rushed; all of it is appreciated for what it does but its main value is in nostalgia for when it once did it the same but as part of a better whole. This also adds to the feeling of them rushing, as this is a lot to get into even 2 hours. In terms of the characters, they are also all there and are nice to see again in their various forms, but in terms of where/who they are, the movie needs them to be responsive to the previous season - for some this is okay as they linger on things and are deeply changed, but it doesn't ring true that everyone would be in that space beyond them needed to be because for the first time the viewer is back.
It works for what it is though - a nostalgia return to a great series, that does the things it used to do in ways that are familiar and solidly entertaining. It doesn't feel like, or serve as, a real extension of the series though, and it didn't really feel necessary anyway. It is a nice-to-have, and I enjoyed it, but its main impact on me was to remind me that I should rewatch the original show.
