thu 28/03/2024

Strike Back, Series 6, Sky 1 review - more stories for boys | reviews, news & interviews

Strike Back, Series 6, Sky 1 review - more stories for boys

Strike Back, Series 6, Sky 1 review - more stories for boys

Gung-ho special forces yarn charges back into action

Warren Brown as Mac, Daniel MacPherson as Sam Wyatt

Laughable though it frequently – oh go on then, always – is, Strike Back is obviously a target-rich environment for those of a thespian persuasion.

The likes of Richard Armitage, Andrew Lincoln, Robson Green and Michelle Yeoh have passed through the show’s bullet-spattered portals over its previous five series, and for series six Warren Brown gets the gig as the special forces maverick out for retribution.

The source of these vengeful sentiments was revealed in the opening set-piece, stylishly shot in panoramic high-def. A Black Hawk helicopter thudded purposefully across the hot, sandy wastes of the Syria-Jordan borderlands, carrying Brown (aka Sgt “Mac” McAllister) and his squad to a rendezvous point where they would pick up a prisoner, the notorious terrorist Omair Idrisi (Don Hany). All hush-hush and below the radar, of course. The handover was going terribly well until a bunch of “insurgents” appeared over the horizon and started firing rockets at our brave lads. Amid a barrage of gunfire, McAllister’s comrades were massacred and Idrisi was whisked away in a jeep. Only the fact that Idrisi’s gun ran out of ammo had saved Mac's life.Strike BackBack at base, Mac was about to be court-martialled for punching the officer he blamed for his mission going belly-up. Happily however, his career was resuscitated by the arrival at his door of Colonel Adina Donovan (a stern Nina Sosanya), who was looking for bellicose soldiers with an attitude problem. “Dangerous soldiers for dangerous missions” was what she craved, and she’d come to the right place. She was offering Mac the chance to hunt down the murderous Idrisi, a one-man basket of deplorables, and Mac signed up without a second’s hesitation.

Strike Back thrives on back-slapping buddy-hood, so they had to find a chum for Mac. Step up Samuel Wyatt (Daniel MacPherson), an American Special Ops guy who Mac first encountered being waterboarded by the Libyan National Army. Mac was shocked to find that Sam was a bit of a liberal, who told him not to kill his captors since they were, in theory at least, on the same side. “Why don’t we just all join hands and sing ‘Kumbaya’?” snarled the exasperated Mac.

Anyway, soon the boys found themselves on the same team, because Wyatt had been peremptorily assigned to Colonel Donovan’s command, presumably because co-producer Cinemax wanted an American in the cast. The mixture was further enriched by the addition of petite but hard-boiled trooper Gracie Novin (Alin Sumarwata, from Australia) and Canada-born (but Australian-accented) Roxanne McKee as Captain Natalie Reynolds. In her skin-tight minidress, lip gloss and white stilettos, there's somehow something un-military about Captain Reynolds, and her fake-seduction of terrorist financier Prince Khalid in a swanky Tripoli nightclub looked like a Pussycat Dolls video.

But this sort of thing happens in Strike Back. Having survived a terrorist massacre at the nightclub, our exotic squad were soon back on the trail of Idrisi, as well as his British wife Jane (Katherine Kelly, pictured right with Don Hany), strangely transformed since her days as Lady Mae in Mr Selfridge.

And in the final frames we suddenly came face to face with Trevor Eve, who’s playing unscrupulous arms dealer Morgan Ives. “I really do love the money,” smirked Ives, much as Vincent Price might have said it. It’s odd how murder, terrorism, murky geopolitics and the arms trade are considered the ideal ingredients for glossy international entertainment co-productions, but that’s where we’re at.

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In her skin-tight minidress, lip gloss and white stilettos, there’s somehow something un-military about Captain Reynolds

rating

Editor Rating: 
2
Average: 2 (1 vote)

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Comments

Bring back Mike n Damien,these X soap people r totally crap,not happy

I loved the original UK production with Richard Armitage then when Stonebridge and Scott came in you could see the American influence in the first episode with a car chase and stupid sparking bullets however I did enjoy all of their 41 episodes. I watched 3/4 of the first new episode and put it off. Dreadful... Typical american nonsense, exploding petrol (sorry, Gasoline) kick ass Lara Croft types. The story appeared to be typical of that done to death previously and could only appeal to morons. I don’t know who’s to blame for this, maybe Chris Ryan sold the rights for a load of cash. As far as I’m concerned Strike Back is finished.

I have tried to watch another episode of this rubbish, it is robotic and totally made to show one person can take on a crowd of soldiers with just had combat, who are they targeting who is watching this. I was so frustrated, I started to watch the old series, with the old season I used to watch it with interest and couldn’t wait to the following week, with this I just fall asleep after all we know what’s going to happen.

let's face it.. without scott and stonebridge there is no strike back!!! only took ten minutes to figure out this remake sucks!!!they should have stuck with a good thing and never cancelled the original.

Agree with most people on this page. The new season is absolute rubbish. I was so excited to hear it was coming back but after watching the first episode im not so excited to see this season through. You cannot replace Stonebridge and Scott. They made the series. To copy Scott and Stonebridge's characters to the new 2 main male leads is stupidity. I will be giving the second episode a chance and i do hope it does get better but im not holding my breath.

We Americans agree with you Brits. Loved the first 5 seasons. This new one sucks. The firefights are terrible, the American’s acting sucks. Simply no originality. When I heard they were bringing the show back, I had hope we were going to see the old characters back. I have all 4 seasons, looking to buy season 0. But I’m not getting this crap.

Bring back Scott and stonebridge

my word i work in the movie industry and the producer needs to get fired. the ladies just wanna be mucho but are so stupid. my that is an insult to woman all over. the one lady you can clearly see dont know how to handle a weapon but she's in the army lol. maybe this was meant a cartoon series for 7 year old kids. this people know where the crooks are going but they still get there 2 days late. and everyone pronounces omar name incorrectly even his own so called people that is a joke. what was this producer thinking.

All I can say is very disappointed. I watched Strike Back for reasonable realistic gun handling... and in season 6.. no reloads, holding pistols incorrectly, no muzzle disciple... just terrible. The original series was soooo much better... they were rocking VZ-58's, doing reloads, scopes and red dots were mounted correctly...not crowding barricades...etc Can't say that for season 6. I mean look at the pic above... they have an ACOG mounted forward on the rifle... that scope has 1.5 inches of eye relief... Can't use an ACOG that far forward :).. but then look at Mac's ACOG.. it's mounted correctly... Just so stupid. I know it might seem petty.. but that kind of stuff just ruins it for me.

What watch is Daniel McPherson wearing on the most recent episode of Strike Back?

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