Indian Palace: Suite royale

Many cinematic releases of late have excelled at contaminating us with dross, puerile swearing and mindless violence. Here then is an oasis of colour in both settings and characters. The first film was a heart-warming experience, which reacquainted viewers with what good cinema should be about. The sequel is equally as splendid - in my opinion, and judging by my fellow cinema-goers, by all of those attendees to. No violence, no swearing, no lavatorial humour. Gosh, what is the world coming to? Just dollops of old-fashioned (and I am not ashamed of using the term), gentle humour. The film is chock-full of some of our (British, that is) top-notch thespians and boy, do they knock anything our Yankee brethren could conceive in a million years into a cocked hat. Okay,Richard Gere pops up as the token 'American', but even he is out-acted by the British and Indian cast ten times over. For two hours of sheer entertainment, with a feel-good factor tipping the scales, then you will be hard pushed to beat this fine example.

Considering how great the first film was, 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' had a lot to live up to. Despite the mixed reviews, the cast are such a talented one and it did look interesting. Did also question the point initially and, considering that sequels with a few exceptions rarely are as good or better than their predecessors, expectations were sort of mixed.

Finally seeing 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel', it was moderately enjoyable but with a fair share of faults so was a disappointment compared to its predecessor. Not as bad as some reviewers have made out, but it could have been much better and the complaints/criticisms are understandable and legitimate from personal opinion.

Starting with 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel's' faults, it does get off to a slow start with the first half an hour taking too long to get going. There are also too many subplots, some of them not developed enough, slow the film down and are a little too contrived-ly written.

Not all the cast work this time either. Dev Patel and Tamsin Grieg are annoying, but worst of all is an out of place Richard Gere who is very wooden as a character that was better left out. A little too heavy on the clichés too, with not enough done to make them interesting.

However, 'The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' looks absolutely splendid. It's gorgeously filmed and the scenery is to die for. As is the lovely and authentic in flavour music.

Parts of the script do work well, though the first film achieved a better balance of funny comedy and heartfelt drama. There are some heart-warming life lessons, some funny witty moments, uplifting warmth and cosy charm. The story is problematic, being a bit slow going in places and bloated, but does boast enough heart and charm, the ending is very touching.

Of the talented cast, the standouts are the always good Maggie Smith and Judi Dench. Bill Nighy is a lot of fun too as is Celia Imrie, Ronald Pickup similarly charms. One does miss Tom Wilkinson however.

In summary, second best but not second rate. 6/10 Bethany Cox

I was really anxious to see this film since we loved the first one but, as always with sequels, I had low expectations. I was not disappointed in any way, shape or form. There are a lot of negative reviews by people who don't understand the human brain. A sequel will NEVER be the same as the first time you experienced a great film. You already know the characters, general story, etc. and there is no room for surprises. What you can hope for is that the journey is continued and presented in a manner that entertains and stays true to the first film. My wife and I discussed the film afterward and we both agreed that there were components of "The Second" that were actually better than the first film. We got to know most of the characters better, we got to see Indian culture in much more depth and the story was much more involved than the first film. Overall, I have to say that this sequel was the best I have ever seen. It stayed true to the characters and most importantly to the Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was a surprise hit in 2012, leveraging the "oldies" out of their armchairs and into the cinemas in droves: the film returned around 15 times its modest $10M budget. Now three years later comes the sequel – the amusingly titled "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel", and its much of the same again. After all, why break a winning formula? Set eight months after the original, and with an enviable occupancy record, expansion is on the cards for the Marigold Hotel. Sonny (Dev Patel) and Muriel (Maggie Smith) head to San Diego in search of investment funding from the US company Evergreen Inc, with the view to expand the franchise into a second property and beyond. There is interest from the owner Ty Burley (David Strathairn, probably best known as the head of Treadstone in the Bourne films) but that interest also brings the threat of a hotel inspector making Sonny (now back in India) suspicious of every new face. Richard Gere's appearance as a wannabe novelist sparks a particularly frantic burst of sucking-up, the farce surrounding these scenes being very reminiscent of the famous Fawlty Towers episode.

Sonny and Sunaina (Tina Desai) are to be married, and the storyline compounds the stresses associated with the business expansion with the stresses associated with the rituals and relationships surrounding the nuptials. Adding fuel to the fire is the unwelcome intervention – in both love and business – of a rich and good-looking family friend and rival (Shazad Latif), bringing the couple's relationship to breaking point. In a slew of secondary story lines, the rest of the ensemble cast comprising Bill Nighy, Judi Dench, Ronald Pickup, Celia Imrie, Diana Hardcastle (sidenote: wife of Tom Wilkinson) and Penelope Wilton pursue love and happiness against the romantic backdrop of Jaipur.

It is hard to actively dislike this film. Like the first film, and like similar recent films such as The Hundred Foot Journey, the esteemed cast demands your attention from the off and the lush colours of India (strikingly enhanced by the job of Evelyn – Judi Dench – in fabric procurement) wrap around you and warm you like a favourite cardigan. The script entertains, with good humour throughout and a smattering of laugh-out-loud lines. In terms of the acting, there is nothing like a Dame and both Dench and Smith are once again excellent, displaying nuanced and – particularly in Smith's case – very moving performances. Bill Nighy (after the strikingly different performance in "Pride") is back into reliable Bill Nighy acting territory again! New to the cast in this outing is one of my favourite comedy actresses Tamsin Greig ("Episodes") and Richard Gere, looking more silver-fox than ever.

But a particular joy for me was Ronald Pickup, celebrating 50 years in the business (after a debut in Dr Who!) who turns in a stellar performance as the besotted but slightly neurotic Norman Cousins.

Another star of the film is India itself. Having had the opportunity to travel extensively, I have never been particularly drawn to India: but this film does more for the Indian Tourist Board than a host of travel brochures ever could. Jaipur looks breath-taking – who knew they had a "Great Wall of China"? – and I may need to reconsider my future travel itinerary.

John Madden ("Mrs Brown", "Shakespeare in Love") directs again, with Thomas Newman scoring.

Any sequel will naturally be compared against its original and, whilst good, this is no "Empire Strikes Back". The film tries to partition itself into the different stages of the wedding preparations, but this becomes rather forced and irritating, particularly since the whole wedding storyline, and the mining of Sonny's jealous streak, gets a bit tiresome. I yearned to be left alone with more time for the quieter and more subtle love story lines permeating the rest of the film.

The script also tends to overly labour the 'you're old so you're about to die' angle in a manner that seems at times to be rather patronising.

But in summary, if you enjoyed the original then you won't find the sequel to be much of a disappointment.

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Have looked forward to this sequel and was not disappointed. It was so good to catch up with old friends (literally and metaphorically). Maybe the storyline was more diluted as less concentrated on the 'guests' and more on Sunni and his attempts to expand his empire and get married but the journey that the 'guests' had started was still ongoing. For me the film is a testament to the fact that old age need not be a slow descent into oblivion; we can lose interest before reaching the terminus or we can hang onto the strap handles and stick it out to the end, which is the message in the film and I know which I prefer. I have n't yet found my personal Best Exotic Marigold Hotel but when I do hopefully Dames Judi & Maggie,Bill, Celia, Ronald, Diana will be my fellow travellers, all haphazardly supervised by Sunni. To those expecting gratuitous violence, blood and gore, gritty reality and leave the cinema feeling life is on a downward spiral, then stay away. To those who want to enjoy a heart warming film,rekindle faith in human nature and joy and expectation in life, go see it and escape this miserable, violent world we live in; go with your friend/lover/partner or alone - just go and enjoy. I am in the age group that would qualify me as a guest but I, like them, am still on a wonderful journey, determined to strap-hang to the end.