Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report and www.action-flix.com
readers. I could not wait, NowTV and Sky networks have unleashed what
I call, the finest action series ever. It happened. Gangs of London
checks every single box in the action/crime drama saga, skirting a
level only the first two Godfather films could hope to achieve. Even
as amazing as the Sopranos was, it left many questions unanswered,
and ambiguous characters. Gangs of London defines the players,
defines the good and bad characters, then tells you not to believe
what is shown.
What
happens here is with a proper budget, Gareth Evans (The Raid) along with
fellow co-directors Xavier Gens and Corin Hardy, have fleshed out
literally a gangster tale where the story is not implied, but unfolds
in front of us, the audience. We do not hear about people getting
tortured and killed, we are thrust into each scene with an fervor
unmatched. I refuse to spoil any of this series as so many events
happen that a crucial to the development of the intricate story. I
will say this, the series is NOT for the faint at heart as, there are
limbs being severed, heads being drilled and a water torture scene.
Gangs of London, is shockingly intense in violence, but there is such
a detailed story to back it up. Keep binging and re-watch.
Essentially
there are several factions. You have the Wallace family with Mother
Marian Wallace, played by Michelle Fairley ('Game Of Thrones'), and
her two sons Sean and Billy, who are part crazy and part scared, but
always aggressive. Michelle Fairley's Marian is perhaps my second
favorite character, she is given a lot to do and say and she has some
motherly instincts yes, but being around my age ha she has a wily
veteran aggressive streak that is quite refreshing! The second big
family is the Dumani family lead by Ed Dumani, deftly portrayed by
Lucian Msamati. The family is an enigma, as the father is a big crime
lord yet his son is up to be mayor. There is a group of mercenaries
seemingly going rogue and working for whoever is paying them. Kind of
like a paramilitary force. The basically go in an leave no survivors.
Incidentally, Wallace family also includes in an extended cameo, Colm
Meaney from Star Trek fame, he plays like the uncle and OG violence
patriarch. My favorite of the lot is Narges Rashidi as Lale, she
portrays a part that is worth exploring further. Overall some very
memorable character development and dialogue in 'Gangs of London'
Here
is an excellent short documentary on the female characters of 'Gangs
of London'
(C) 2020 Sky Network
Above: Narges Rashidi as Lale, just being her aggressive and tormented self! (C) 2020 Sky Network for promotional use only not monetized.
The
character of Lale would in ever other movie or TV show be some
bearded stereotypical Middle Easter man, and more often than not, a
nondescript throw away character. Kudos to the entire show production
team to recognize the extremely high level of talent Narges possess,
and really develop an aggressive yet sympathetic character. No
spoilers of course but there is a scene in which Narges basically
goes on a killing rampage, and in real life Narges hard to escape the
horrors of the 80s Iran/Iraq War. The powerful scene, is not just
random killing, there are emotional scars on her face, and as her
character goes further into the series, she becomes the anti hero.
The crap she has to put up with, and being a leader of men, even
though she is not a man, is truly astonishing. I say EMMY!
Finally
of course there are the police officers, who actually are integrated
into the story as some are corrupt, yet some are just a step behind.
Although she has a smaller role, I kind of liked Jing Lusi as
Detective Inspector Vicky Chung. Even though she is often late on the
scene she knows what is going on and warns her fellow officers. My
only small gripe is she was just not given enough to do, but
hopefully she will be back for season 2.
Actor
Lee Charles has a crazy fight in Gangs of London and look for a
future interview on Dan's Movie Report, I wish he was in the show
longer. Many of the what I call single episode or minor characters
actually are quite entertaining.
The
accouterments of the show are very solid, lighting, acting, scenery
musical score, yes it is a BRITISH crime drama, I am USA based and I
can understand it, not that hard, I see people complaining. I say get
headphones and turn up the volume and be non distracted watching it.
Don't play on your phone, put the dogs and kids to bed. And watch it.
I would say watch it two episodes or three per day for the duration,
do not stop an episode halfway through let it play out, they are
53-58 minutes in length and the season of Gangs of London is 9
episodes. I mean, during this Covid situation, no real excuse not to
binge the show in a two week period.
Overall,
the series is just excellent, having all of the elements in action of
'The Raid' with the quality story telling of 'The Godfather', and the
character intricacies of 'Goodfellas'. Gangs of London season one
rates a 10 out of 10, it is my third perfect score in my 11 years
writing on Dan's Movie Report. Binge, binge, and binge again,
watching out for the ladies of Gangs of London, they are the crazy
ones!
The
show is available for streaming on NowTV @ https://www.nowtv.com/ie
Watch
for the series in the USA on Cinemax later in the Summer:
https://www.cinemax.com/
Check
out Narges Rashidi Facebook Page @
https://www.facebook.com/nargesrashidiofficial/
Dazzler Media have the DVD of the first season available for pre-order coming out July 27th, 2020.
Dazzler Media have the DVD of the first season available for pre-order coming out July 27th, 2020.
Keep
it locked for exclusives on Dan's Movie Report and your home for
action action-flix.com!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep comments related to post, ads or flaming will be deleted.