Sharpe's Revenge

By now, we know the drill, Sharpe gets into trouble, and he and Harper have to fight to get out of it. It could start to get formulaic, but somehow it never does. The writers did an admirable job of editing Sharpe's fortress out of this one, although Wigram's reasons for calling Sharpe out are somewhat spurious. Fredrickson stomps all over Harper as sidekick-the-audience-most-wants-for-themselves, and Lucille is just lovely - although I don't think I can forgive her for not being straight with Fredrickson - she's a lot nicer in the book. Maillot deserved a bit more character development than he actually got too, but overall, not a bad effort. I really don't know what to make of Jane - she seems to have some weird deranged schizophrenic thing going on where one minute she's evil and the next confused. As much as I love Richard, I have to say he was outshone by Fredrickson in this one.

This outing for Richard Sharpe wants for little. Although there are no big battle scenes, it still looks good. Compared to the book, it follows pretty well (all the best Sharpe films do) and it is nice to see that Cornwell's story is not butchered, like in Gold. I haven't seen this movie for quite a while now but I enjoyed it when I did and if you are a Sharpe fan, which I darn well hope you are, then you should get to one of those really really good video stores and rent this title, along with the others. They are best watched in order... Rifles, Eagle, Company, Enemy, Honour, Gold, Battle, Sword, Regiment, Siege, Mission, Revenge, Justice, Waterloo.

Thanks to a heroic charge lead by Richard Sharpe, Wellington takes the last French stronghold of Toulouse. Napoleon surrenders and the war is over. However, Sharpe is accused of stealing French treasure and murdering two French soldiers in the process, a sentence that carries the death penalty. In addition, his wife has gone back to London and taken all his money.

An episode that started in great fashion with a very exciting battle scene. I was expecting and hoping that this battle would occupy the entire episode but it ends rather quickly, as does the war. From then on it's all about skulduggery and domestic issues as Sharpe is accused of crimes and his wife, out of the blue, up and leaves and takes all his money.

Neither of these plots make too much sense and just seem about melodrama for the sake of it. There are some good twists and turns along the way, some interesting alliances and some good action scenes. These make up for the weak plot.

My esteem for Sharpe ebbed away in this episode. He may have re-gained his honor and good name, but lost the trust and confidence of a friend (Fredrickson); something far more valuable in war than a damsel's warm bed. Hence, in the letter of law with honor, Sharpe wins. But in the spirit of honor, he is a loser. A true Blue Falcon, a derogatory term substituting the dubious distinction "Buddy ******"

Who stole Napoleon's gold? Richard Sharpe is blamed and now he has to prove his innocents while trying to find the person who did steal the gold. While Richard is trying to clear his good name, his wife, Jane, is talked into doing some things that are questionable.

9/10.