'Luther: The Fallen Sun' welcomes Idris Elba back to one of his best, most complex roles

John Luther’s past finally catches up to him in “Luther: The Fallen Sun,” a new film spin-off of the British crime series once again starring, yay, Idris Elba.

Comeuppance sounds like a way to end a movie, not start it, but as ever, things in the Luther universe are not what you’d expect. (Neil Cross, who created the BBC Television series, wrote the script.)

Thus, as Luther begins to investigate the disappearance of a young man who seemingly vanishes, the perpetrator quickly finds and uses all of Luther’s, ahem, aggressive and unorthodox police tactics in previous cases against him, and before you know it, Luther is in prison.

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'Luther: The Fallen Sun' plays like a British crime drama crossed with NBC's 'Hannibal'

Not for long, of course. It turns out the man’s disappearance is just one cog in a genuinely depraved (if somewhat dated) crime scheme; the film plays like a cross between a classic British detective series and an especially gruesome episode of “Hannibal,” the late, great NBC TV series that spared nothing in its operatic depictions of sickening behavior.

In a good way, of course.

We know the bad guy from the start here. It’s David Robey (Andy Serkis), who collects damning information on people the way others collect stamps — though the information proves more useful. The film revolves around whether Luther can catch Robey before the police catch Luther.

Things have changed. Martin Schenk (Dermot Crowley) is no longer Luther’s boss, having retired — or, more accurately, been retired. The new chief of detectives is Odette Raine (Cynthia Erivo), who runs a no-nonsense shop and has no time or patience for Luther.

But Robey, it turns out, can get to anyone.

Some of the logistics and mechanics of all this probably don’t hold up to rigid scrutiny. But where’s the fun in that? We’re not here for a fact-checking exercise. We’re here to watch Elba do his thing, which is just generally be great.

More specifically, it’s in the camaraderie he has with Crowley — their interactions are necessarily conducted mostly over cellphone. Schenk clearly admires his former detective. He also can’t trust him, a position that Luther fully endorses.

Elba’s scenes with Erivo are also captivating. If Crowley doesn’t trust Luther, at least he likes him. Raine does not, not one bit. The way Elba and Erivo navigate the complications inherent in that — she needs him, much as she hates to acknowledge it — and it makes for some of the more intriguing, if short-lived, scenes in the film.

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Who needs him to play James Bond when Elba can explore roles like this?

Of course, since it is a film, things have to wrap up more quickly than they would even in a limited British TV series. It’s never quite to the point of narrative shortcuts, but the film does jump from one place to the next — like, literally, to other countries — pretty quickly. Director Jamie Payne keeps things moving, certainly, and the action is appropriately gruesome. But you can see where a little more time to tell the story would have helped.

Really, though, why complain when you can watch Elba? There was talk of him as the next James Bond at one point, and the way he handles action scenes — basically, the way he beats people up and handles weapons — certainly lends itself to that. Daniel Craig’s Bond went to darker places than his playboy predecessors, and one supposes Elba would tap into that energy even more strongly. It would have been fun to watch.

But so is “Luther: The Fallen Sun.” At times the filmmakers rely a little much on the audience understanding the complexity of Luther’s character. Thanks to Elba, that doesn’t matter. He couldn’t play a character simply if he tries, and the film is better for it.

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'Luther' 3.5 stars

Great ★★★★★ Good ★★★★

Fair ★★★ Bad ★★ Bomb ★

Director: Jamie Payne.

Cast: Idris Elba, Cynthia Erivo, Andy Serkis.

Rating: R for disturbing/violent content, language and some sexual material.

How to watch: In theaters Feb. 24, streaming on Netflix March 10.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 'Luther: The Fallen Sun' review: Idris Elba returns triumphantly