I was very much looking forward to seeing how Sharpe got on after 10 years, but it seemed at times like being reacquainted with an old friend I've lost contact with and we both seem to have changed. I noticed bean's acting limitation here; I always made allowances for him in earlier episodes given his social background etc., but here he just seems constantly numb. He doesn't even make use of the french he must have learned during his time in retirement in France. And the mistakes he constantly makes- why in hell does he actually give his real name when acting as a spy? My girlfriend kept rolling her eyes at the constant changes in motive and plot twists that kept the story going. And the idea of meeting Harper and the others in the span of a day in a country the size of India right at the beginning tested my patience from the start. To have a motley of soldiers (no tracking shot to show how few extras are actually being used) carrying the same East Indian Co. flag as a battle flag as opposed to what by then amounted to a Tesco banner was something else that didn't seem right to me. I was keen to see to former Bond baddies square off but, at 140 minutes, it dragged on. How Sharpe after one beating after another managed to shrug it off when my back puts me out is another stretch of believability. www.imperialflags.blogspot.com