Red Dwarf: The Promised Land Review - 6 Ups & 2 Downs

1. The Villain's Defeat Is Super Abrupt

Red Dwarf is remarkably consistent with their bad guys, and one of the best surprises of the film is how great the villain of the piece, Rodon, is.

He doesn't actually get many big jokes or even things to do but bark out his lines, but the committed performance of Ray Fearon completely sold him to the audience and he dominates every scene he appears in through sheer presence.

So it's a real shame such a great character goes out with such a wet fart of an end.

There's not any great showdown or a creative way the crew outsmart him. No spoilers here, but it comes down to a very brief, and overly silly, end that doesn't even make a lot of sense when you sit and think about it.

Considering how great villains such as Legion, the Inquisitor or even Hudson-10 were all taken out in a memorable way that involved some ingenious scheme from the crew, this was a rapid, unsatisfying end to the threat that was the glorious cat leader.

These were the only mild niggles in an otherwise great product, however, and here is everything the film does right.

And now to the positives...