Review: 'Downton Abbey: A New Era' jams together dozens of familiar characters, and a plagiarized plot line, for a movie only the fans will love

Movie snobs who criticize the Marvel Cinematic Universe for too much “fan service” — throwing in unnecessary characters or references to make the diehard fans swoon — should take a long look at what the folks behind “Downton Abbey” do with their sprawling cast of English upper-crust and their devoted servants.

In “Downton Abbey: A New Era,” the second feature film based on the popular ITV and PBS series, the two dozen or so regular characters — and a few new ones — are bounced around by series creator Julian Fellowes’ script higgledy-piggledy, with all but one making no lasting impression that one didn’t get from the regularity of seeing them on TV for years.

The exception is Dame Maggie Smith, who gets one more opportunity as the Dowager Countess, Violet Grantham, to show everyone how much fun she’s having with droll witticisms and an unmistakeable air of being so much better than the material with which she’s working.

Two plot threads are fighting for dominance in this movie — one maudlin soap opera, the other rank plagiarism.

In the first one, Violet tells the family that she has inherited a villa in the south of France, given to her by a viscount she knew some 64 years previously. Violet’s son, Lord Robert Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), leads a sizable contingent of the family to check out the villa. There, they become embroiled in intrigue, because the viscount’s widow (the great French star Nathalie Baye) doesn’t want to give up the property, while the viscount’s son (Jonathan Zaccal) aims to fulfill his father’s wishes, for reasons that become clear over time.

Meanwhile, back at Downton Abbey, Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) — left in charge of the house by Violet at the end of the last movie — weighs an offer to have a British movie production film in the house. Mary accepts, knowing the money could go to fixing the leaky roof. The movie people arrive, bringing with them the expected amount of backstage drama. And that’s where the plagiarism comes into the script.

It’s 1928, you see, and in the middle of filming a silent melodrama about a gambler and a noblewoman, the movie’s producer/director, Jack Barber (Hugh Dancy), gets a call from his studio to call it off — because talkies are now all the rage. Lady Mary suggests they turn the current production into a talking picture, but there’s a snag: The glamorous platinum-blonde leading lady, Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock), has a Cockney accent that could peel paint off the walls.

Yup, you sussed it out: Fellowes is cribbing the plot from one of the greatest movies of all time, 1952’s “Singin’ in the Rain.” The only thing missing is knowing which character will take on the Debbie Reynolds role of dubbing their voice over Myrna’s.

You can throw a rock in any direction and hit another subplot, usually involving one of the beloved side characters finding true love. For example, the deep-in-the-closet head butler Barrow (Robert James-Collier) sees a chance at happiness when he catches the eye of the movie’s dashing leading man, Guy Dexter (Dominic West), who’s apparently living in a more luxurious closet. Or former servant Mr. Molesley (Kevin Doyle) gets a chance to propose, finally, to the spinsterish maid Miss Baxter (Raquel Cassidy). And so on down the line.

With all these characters, director Simon Curtis (“My Week With Marilyn”) has only one job, and that’s traffic control. He manages to avoid any major crashes, but there are enough minor ones to prevent the movie from gaining any sense of rhythm.

It’s hard to imagine a third “Downton Abbey” movie, if only because the writers have a big historic wall ahead of them: The stock market crash of 1929 and the Great Depression to follow. Surely, a household that has to bring in a movie production to pay for a new roof is destined for collapse when the world’s economy tanks — and I can’t believe the Anglophilic audience that eats this show up like crumpets will want to watch Lord Grantham fire the staff and sell off the antiques. “Downton Abbey” fans better soak up the luxury life while they can.

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‘Downton Abbey: A New Era’

★★1/2

Opens Friday, May 20, in theaters everywhere. Rated PG for some suggestive references, language and thematic elements. Running time: 125 minutes.