Non-pony: Watership Down (BBC/Netflix)

Just before I shut up shop for a few days over Hearth's Warming, have one of my very occasional non-Pony posts. In this case, it's indirectly linked with MLP anyway, as joining the Watership Down fandom back around 2002 started the process that eventually led to my becoming a brony. So, past the cut you can have a brief, scattergun and very spoilery review of this adaptation of WD.

I thought it was okay. That sounds like damning with faint praise, and that's because it is. It didn't come close to the original novel for me, and I don't think it even surpassed the 1978 film. That's not just because of the plot changes – one large change that I thought worked rather well was Clover's greatly expanded role. I was very sceptical about that, but I was more or less won over by the end as Gemma Arterton played her well.

The CGI animation I had very mixed feelings about. I was mildly irritated throughout by the way these supposedly English rabbits had a) paw-pads, which no rabbits do; and b) ears more suited to hares or some of the longer-eared American species. (Cottontails aren't even the same genus as European Rabbits, so there's no excuse!) The countryside scenes worked well, but some of the close-ups looked like scenes from rather ropey computer games.

The voice cast was solid, if perhaps not quite as impressive as that of the 1978 movie. Peter Capaldi's Kehaar was undoubtedly the highlight, but John Boyega also made a very good Bigwig, Ben Kingsley's General Woundwort had menace and Olivia Colman was decent as the doeified Strawberry. It was probably inevitable that there'd be more female characters, but that did mean some of the original storylines had to be changed awkwardly.

I really didn't like the way Efrafa was portrayed, in particular the blatant concentration camp imagery. We even had a railway line leading to the "gates" at one point. While Efrafa is a concentration camp in some ways, it's also hidden in rolling countryside, since Woundwort is more than just a tyrant; he really does inspire a reluctant loyalty for his utter devotion to protecting the warren from men.

I absolutely despised some of the small and unnecessary changes. The worst of all was during the Efrafan attack on Watership, with Hazel telling Bigwig to say his Chief Rabbit had told him to defend the run. The whole damn point is that Bigwig says it of his own accord – that's what gives the line power. Renaming Nelthilta (as "Nettle") when they left Hyzenthlay and Thethuthinnang as they were was also pointless.

The last few minutes of the film, once we'd got past the truly idiotic "I love you" scene (entirely unfaithful to WD's naturalistic portrayal of wild rabbits) were the best. Rosamund Pike made a fine Black Rabbit of Inlé and Hazel's death scene was still moving, sad and hopeful all at once. Also, having an in-universe story use the opening lines of the novel was perfect.

But they dropped Pipkin entirely. This simply cannot be borne.

All in all, I'd consider this adaptation of Watership Down to be a mixed bag, albeit still worth giving a shot. Some self-inflicted wounds (British level crossings do not have US-style bells!) and far too many scenes in the dark, but also a fine voice cast and a few lovely touches such as the bench bearing a plaque in memory of Richard Adams. I can't help but feel, though, that it's a slight missed opportunity. The book remains best.