Review of the series «MobLand»

On the first day of summer, the latest episode of the crime drama «MobLand» starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren was released on the Paramount+ platform. Initially, this project was conceived as a spinoff prequel to the series «Ray Donovan», which has 7 seasons and aired on Showtime from 2013 to 2020. However, the idea later grew into a standalone story that had nothing to do with the show. We invite you to find out what kind of cool showdowns have arisen in gloomy London and how interesting they are to watch in our review.

Pluses:

a great cast, who also give their all in front of the camera; a generally well-crafted crime story — the show is 100 percent realized in its genre; seemingly small nuances, such as the soundtrack, costumes, subtle manifestations of peculiar humor, etc;

Minuses:

The series is a bit of a long-winded one: the expository first two episodes from Guy Ritchie are a bit heavy-handed; the female characters and their arcs, except Helen Mirren, are more of a distraction than an important part of the story; the ending is predictable and disappointing in many ways;

8/10

Rating
ITC.ua

«MobLand»

Genre crime drama, action movie
Directors Guy Ritchie, Anthony Byrne, Daniel Syrkin, Lawrence Gough
Starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, Helen Mirren, Patrick Considine, Daniel Betts, Mandeep Dillon, Joanna Froggatt, Lara Pulver, Anson Boone, Jasmine Jobson
Premiere Paramount+
Year of issue 2025
Website IMDb

The Irish crime clan of the Harrigans, led by the brutal head of the family, Conrad Harrigan, is on the verge of war with the South London crime syndicate of the Stevensons. After the boss there, Richie Stevenson, loses his son. The fixer Harry De Souza, who has been faithfully serving the Harrigans for many years and is the best friend of Conrad’s son Kevin, tries to fix the precarious situation. Against the backdrop of the inevitable conflict, the personal dramas of the characters unfold, mired in lies, betrayal, disappointment, and constant strife.

Already in the stylish opening credits, the mischievous Starburster by Irish post-punks Fontaines DC sounds: it seems as if this track is haunting Tom Hardy because it sounded in the trailer of the still freshly remembered movie «Havoc». Then — more, at least in terms of music. At the initial stages, the plot will feature a nightclub where The Prodigy plays exclusively — in the first episode, the incendiary Firestarter is heard, in the second — the equally powerful Breathe.

As for the content of the two debut episodes, everything looks not so smooth and mischievous. They were directed by Guy Ritchie (who just the day before «pleased us with his «Fountain of Youth»), because you can’t do without Guy Ritchie when it comes to criminal showdowns in London. Due to the large number of characters, storylines, and lengthy dialogues, it does not become so easy to recognize the pivotal arch associated with Tom Hardy’s character. And at the beginning, as they say, it’s hard to get into this story.

The tension is gradually building, the star and lesser-known actors are really giving it their all, and Mr. Hardy hasn’t looked so organic and at the same time tired under the weight of circumstances since «Locke» (2013), perhaps. With each subsequent episode, Starburster is again and again a harbinger that something interesting is about to be shown, something that will be more or less exciting for at least the next 40-45 minutes. By the end of the season, this song risks falling in love right now, in the moment.

In general, the point is not that «MobLand» offers some fundamentally different view of gangster cinema — not at all. On the contrary, the barbaric laws of this dark world remain unchanged because to say that someone’s blood will be shed on the screen is an understatement. The secret of the show’s success is quite trivial: everything is done with integrity. Starting with the strength of the script (from the writers of last year’s «The Day of the Jackal» and «The Agency» — Ronan Bennett and Jez Butterworth, respectively), without reference to contemporary trends or agendas, and ending with costumes or the aforementioned soundtrack.

As is usually the case in stories of this kind, the female characters and their arcs are noticeably weaker than the male ones; the only exception is the real-life bitch Maeve, played brilliantly by Helen Mirren. The storylines of the protagonist’s wife and daughter, Kevin Harrigan’s wife, and Conrad’s daughter Serafina all fail to evoke a proper response, and sometimes seem downright superfluous and irritating. Even the authoritative Kat McCallister, played by Janet McTeer, makes a cameo appearance, although this character is clearly a target for the next season, if there is one.

«What a family!» — the viewer may think at some point, and he or she will be 100 percent right. In between Harry De Souza’s fascinating tossing and turning and, of course, the systematic tea party, we will witness intrigue and manipulation, constant squabbles, and catastrophic consequences of actions dictated by base motives. This testifies to the destructive nature of human nature. This is especially true of the vile Maeve Harrigan, who feels like a fish out of water even at a funeral. A local policeman, despite his criminally powerful surname Fisk, the police are expected to be powerless in the fight against London gangs.

When the stakes are as high as possible, the audience’s demand for a climax logically increases. The ninth and penultimate episode seems to be a natural calm before the storm, but the storm never comes. Despite several explosions (one of which resembles the corresponding scene with Heath Ledger’s Joker), the tenth episode looks as predictable as possible, which is a bit disappointing, but at the same time it is still interesting to watch the events on the screen. A somewhat pulled-from-their-finger twist in the last minutes doesn’t add to the joy either, as the finale of «Supernatural» (2005—2020) with its clumsy metal spike immediately comes to mind.