The Artful Dodger Review: Disney+ Series With Dramatic Comedy That Talks About Moral and Social Redemption
Cast: Thomas Brodie-Sangster, David Thewlis, Maia Mitchell
Created By: James McNamara, David Maher David Taylor
Streaming Platform: Disney+
Filmyhype.com Ratings: 4/5 (four stars)
The Artful Dodger series inspired by the novel The Adventures of Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens arrives streaming on Disney Plus in the form of a television sequel. Available on the platform with all 8 complete episodes starting January 17, 2024, The Artful Dodger stars the talented Thomas Brodie-Sangster in the role of Jack Dawkins aka Artful Dodger. The Artful Dodger is a comedy-drama that brings to the stage a fusion of action, adventure, tragedy, and romance. The story of the TV series is characterized by different elements that blend perfectly together, giving life to a title skillfully loaded with content to the point that it cannot be labeled in just one specific genre. In the TV series The Artful Dodger, David Thewlis as Norbert Fagin and Maia Mitchell as Lady Belle Fox appear alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster. Other main characters include Damien Garvey, Susie Porter, Damon Herriman, Lucy-Rose Leonard, Vivienne Awosoga, and Nicholas Burton.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster – now 33, but still extremely youthful in appearance – has come a long way since playing the child in Love. His last role in the Disney + miniseries The Artful Dodger suggests that even one of Charles Dickens’s most memorable characters has gone very far: to Australia! This entertaining serial surprise follows the adult double life of Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), a skilled surgeon once considered the prince of thieves. To be understood as a sequel/spin-off to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens, its protagonist is the bizarre Jack Dawkins, once known as The Artful Dodger, a skilled pickpocket and thief in London. In our review of The Artful Dodger, we analyze how Thomas Brodie-Sangster gives audiences a likable and charming version of the adult Dickensian thief, and his efforts to be a good person and a good doctor in the harsh Australian outback from the narrative axis of this very funny show.
The Artful Dodger Review: The Story Plot
In 1850s Australia, in the bustling colony of Port Victory, Jack Dawkins, The Artful Dodger, has transformed his quick pickpocket fingers into the skilled ones of a surgeon. But the past comes back to haunt him with the arrival of Fagin, who tries to lure him back into the world of crime. A greater threat to Dodger’s heart is Lady Belle, the governor’s daughter, determined to become the colony’s first female surgeon. From heists to life-and-death operations, from elegant nights out to street violence, this is a story of reinvention, betrayal, redemption, and love. Jack Dawkins – aka The Artful Dodger – is one of the “braggart and braggart” young thieves, employed by the evil crime lord Fagin, who manipulates the eponymous Oliver Twist in Dickens’ gripping story which describes the unfortunate beginnings and subsequent redemption of its main hero. First published in serial form before being bound into three volumes in 1838, the misadventure has a decidedly less fortunate outcome for Jack.
After being caught red-handed with a stolen silver snuffbox, Jack is told that he will be transported to recently established penal colonies by invading British forces, a fate made explicit by The Artful Dodger‘s trio of showrunners, James McNamara, David Maher, and David Taylor. In reality, things weren’t so bad for the street thief once he arrived in Australia. A few years later, he has somehow avoided an unhappy end and established himself as a respectable surgeon, performing hair-raising surgeries, while his drunken superior, Professor McGregor (Kim Gyngell), slumbers. Not that Jack has stopped being a pain in the ass entirely: we discover that, despite his flashy job, he gambles and continues to be a petty thief to pay off his then astronomical £23 debt.
It’s not just gambling that threatens Jack’s newfound semi-respectability, but also his financial security and the return of his old master Fagin (David Thewlis), who he wants drawn into the shady dealings of the underworld. Drawing on Dickensian imagery, the series explores various themes, such as politics, revolution, and the conflict between the poor and rich classes, especially through the forbidden love story between the governor’s daughter, Lady Belle (Maia Mitchell), and Dr. Jack Dawkins. Between them, not only are there problems due to the extreme wealth gap that separates them, but they have different opinions on how the colony is managed politically: Jack is enraged by the damage it causes to the population, while Belle understands what positive implications, they can derive from it.
The Artful Dodger Review and Analysis
The Artful Dodger is an enjoyable title even for those who have not read the novel by Charles Dickens on which it is based, as the Disney Plus TV series presents itself almost as a piece of content in its own right. The Artful Dodger is a story about moral and social redemption, but also about freedom of choice and the importance of life. The protagonist Jack is a young man who, after a forced criminal past, tries to start all over again as soon as an opportunity presents itself. If as a child the surgeon only had Fagin as his point of reference and was forced to steal to live, as an adult Jack can make his own choices and decide which type of path to take. However, in life, things don’t always go the way you hoped. For this reason, even if Jack tries hard to become a respectable person in the eyes of society, it is the same society that puts a spoke in his wheels.
The political regime in which Jack finds himself living is classist and the differences of belonging are felt loud and clear for the less well-off. To make Port Victory a clean and habitable place, the British armed forces have no scruples in using an iron fist in most cases, even going so far as to execute those who stole just an apple out of hunger. Jack himself, despite practicing the profession of surgeon, does not receive any compensation, so to survive he finds himself resorting to gambling. An activity in which Jack doesn’t hurt anyone except himself when he has to suffer the consequences of gambling debts that he is unable to honor. But even among the nobles, some are impatient with the lifestyle already imposed from birth and with the predominantly patriarchal social rules. Although she is the Governor’s daughter, Belle, unlike her sister Fanny, does not live waiting for a young scion to arrive at her door to ask for her hand in marriage.
However, she spends her time studying medical books and doing experiments on what she learned in those texts. Despite what happens around her, Belle does not lower her head and does not accept being judged inferior or incompetent compared to men just because she is a woman. On the contrary, precisely because she is part of the fairer sex, Lady Fox is determined to break the mold and break down the stereotypes that are well-rooted in the era in which she lives. Despite being part of different contexts, Jack and Belle are very similar because deep down they want the same things. The former thief wants to become a better person both personally and professionally, just as the Governor’s daughter no longer wants to be seen only as such. Both two young people try to conquer their place in society to be recognized simply for who they are, regardless of their past, social status, gender, or origins from which they come.
The Artful Dodger is first and foremost a love story. The love that is born between the two protagonists Jack and Belle but also the love of life in all its forms. The two young people, after a stormy initial approach, end up getting on well because they have the same passion for medicine and in particular for the branch of surgery. For both, however, it is not just a profession as such, but also a precious means that allows us to save human lives. On this point Jack and Belle initially see things differently, as the surgeon is afraid of daring more than necessary in his profession and therefore limits himself to practicing only what he knows. Instead of the young noblewoman who has been spending her time reading up on themed books for years, she wants to test herself to broaden the field of medicine to be able to cure more and more people. Two opposing points of view but with a common goal: to help anyone in need of medical care survive.
The Artful Dodger overall is an excellent title characterized by various scenarios and different contents that offer a mix of genres suitable for all tastes. Although the main thread of the story is divided between Jack’s relationship with Belle and Jack’s relationship with Fagin, various subplots involving other interesting characters are included, including a brief but entertaining appearance by Oliver Twist himself. The relationship between the protagonist Jack and Belle is not exactly original, as it is based on the classic push and pull typical of romantic films in which the characters in question declare their love for each other only following long interactions of apparent mutual “hatred”. However, in the context of the series The Artful Dodger, this approach works well, both for the brilliant performances of the two actors involved and for the background context linked to the certainly unconventional surgery environment.
While on the one hand in The Artful Dodger, there is no shortage of comical and exciting skits, on the other hand, there are very bloody scenes and a fair amount of splatter that could disturb that more sensitive part of the public. But as a whole, the TV series manages to alternate the various sequences without going into more than necessary detail on macabre details while continuing to shift attention from one context to another. In conclusion, The Artful Dodger is a comedy divided between drama and love that makes us reflect on important themes and also brings the viewer back to a dark historical context that should not be forgotten. A TV series capable of entertaining and engaging by entertaining and moving, through various dynamics that blend halfway between Lupine and Robin Hood. The difference is that this time the thief in question, Artful Dodger, in addition to knowing how to steal, also knows how to save lives with his hands.
Dickens’ writing has a very high bar to clear, but Brodie-Sangster’s agile presence brings with it an irresistible energetic charge: the actor was born to play Dodger. His boyish face is reminiscent of his Dickens pickpocket origins (he still wears his iconic top hat), but he’s no longer a child; in his well-calibrated interpretation, he convinces both as a surgeon and as a love interest. The Artful Dodger takes one of Dickens’s most likable scoundrels and imagines a new future for him in Australia: it works much better as a period medical drama with a dash of romance than as a continuation of the adversarial relationship between Fagin and The Artful Dodger, but Thomas Brodie-Sangster’s lively performance as Jack Dawkins and David Thewlis as Fagin make this TV series even funnier than it has any right to be.
The Artful Dodger Review: The Last Words
The Artful Dodger impresses with its energetic charge – and splatter! Thomas Brodie-Sangster is excellent in the title role: the natural charisma and ease with which he switches from the role of the surgeon to that of the Dickensian criminal are worth watching him. The Artful Dodger is a dramatic comedy that talks about moral and social redemption, told through a poignant love story that juggles action, splatter, humor, tragedy, and a pinch of romance.
The Artful Dodger Review: Disney+ Series With Dramatic Comedy That Talks About Moral and Social Redemption - Filmyhype
Director: James McNamara, David Maher David Taylor
Date Created: 2024-01-19 20:04
4
Pros
- Convincing cast
- Excellent photography
- The importance of the topics covered
Cons
- Some bloody scenes may shock more sensitive viewers
- Open ending
