Review of the series «The Penguin»

On November 10 on HBO, and a little later officially on the platform MEGOGO the screening of the crime drama series «The Penguin», starring an unrecognizable Colin Farrell, has ended. The plot of the show is based on the DC comic book character of the same name. The project is a spinoff of the successful superhero blockbuster «The Batman» (2022), where Oswald Cobblepot, performed by Farrell, appeared before the audience for the first time. In the review below, we will analyze why «The Penguin» claims to be one of the of the best series of 2024.

Pluses:

a solid crime drama with a fascinating emergence of a nasty villain as a full-fledged criminal master of Gotham; great acting, particularly by Colin Farrell and Christine Milioti; a technically perfect show, because this component is executed at the highest level — from Colin Farrell's makeup to the selection and display of dark Gotham locations;

Minuses:

minimal plot conventions and small narrative slumps that are not globally capable of affecting the overall impression;

9/10

Rating
ITC.ua

«The Penguin»

Genre crime drama
Showrunner Lauren LeFranc
Starring Colin Farrell, Christine Milioti, Renzi Felice, Michael Kelly, Michael Zegen, Clancy Brown, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Deirdre O’Connell, James Madio, Scott Cohen, Carmen Ejogo, Theo Rossi, Mark Strong
Premiere HBO, MEGOGO
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb, official website

After the death of the criminal mastermind Carmine Falcone and the flooding of a part of Gotham as a result of the tricks of the mad Riddler. Small-time gangster Oswald Cobblepot, aka the Penguin, sees the situation as an opportunity to move up in the gangster hierarchy. However, due to his impulsiveness, Oz brutally deals with Alberto Falcone, the heir to his father’s criminal empire.

In addition, after many years of imprisonment in the Arkham Psychiatric Clinic, Carmine’s daughter and Alberto’s sister, Sofia, is released, eager to find her brother’s killer. He was the only one in the family who supported her sister in difficult times, so the girl is extremely determined. Since her suspicions fall on Penguin, she will have to work hard to avoid fatal consequences.

At the same time, Oz recruits Victor Aguilar, a young man from the Gotham slums, as his assistant, and tries his best to fulfill a long-standing promise to his mother. As a serious power struggle unfolds in the city, involving various criminal gangs, Cobblepot intends to play a decisive role in the new balance of power.

If Phillips was inspired by Martin Scorsese’s works, and Reeves’ creation had echoes of Fincher’s maniacal thrillers, the authors of «The Penguin» were clearly looking towards Francis Ford Coppola’s outstanding gangster epic. And the fact that they also looked back at the majestic hit from the same HBO «The Sopranos» will probably be remembered only by the lazy.

Certain moments also hint at a certain affinity with «Joker». For example, the explosion in the seventh episode, unexpected for the protagonist, echoes the explosion in the recent sequels. And Oswald Cobblepot himself is also dancing on the steps, though this time of the city hall after a successful deal with one of the officials. However, while the Joker was helplessly singing songs in his sick imagination on the big screen, the Penguin was conquering Gotham on the small screen, and with him — audience loyalty.

The Penguin is constantly in a difficult situation, and there is always intrigue as to how he will get out of what seems to be another hopeless situation. No less intriguing is the character of Christine Milioti, who, by the way, appeared in the aforementioned «The Sopranos». You never know for sure what to expect from this crazy girl. Watching the fundamental antagonism between these two is a real pleasure. They both go to their goal over the heads of corpses, and they do not shy away from getting rid of their relatives. In one scene, the expression «blood money» becomes frighteningly clear. And both are ready to do literally anything to crush not a competitor, but a real enemy.

Even Gotham itself feels like a full-fledged participant in the events: the city always seems to be breathing in the frame, living its noisy life and freezing only when it is beneficial to the scum. At the same time, it strikes almost everyone who is unlucky enough to live here with its gloom and hopelessness. Along with elite skyscrapers and expensive restaurants, there is now a post-apocalyptic slum with no electricity. Only a determined and fearless freak like Penguin, who comes from a poor neighborhood, can change something. But not for the sake of the long-suffering citizens, but only for himself. The heavily made-up Colin Farrell is left with the option of playing only with his eyes, but even so, he gives a convincing image of not only a physical but also a moral monster, guided solely by his own interests. Nowadays, it is hard to imagine (and remember) that this man once played the hot-tempered villain Marked with a gun on his forehead in Marvel’s «Daredevil» (2003) with Affleck. Christine Milioti proves to be a great opponent for the Penguin, but even her sometimes Harlequin-like madness is not enough to stop this monster with a scarred face. The secondary characters are less interesting, but they complement the overall picture of the story.

At first, the only one who is still worth rooting for seems to be the young man Victor Aguilar, whom Oz takes under his wing. The hero goes through a difficult moral choice, and his motivation to grab his piece of the pie against the backdrop of a miserable beggarly life is quite understandable. But later, the young man reaches the point of no return, which brings him closer to the monsters involved in this dirty game. In short, Batman, who is scheduled to return to the screen in 2026, really has a lot of work to do. However, this does not negate the fact that every prominent piece on the local chessboard, whether a pawn or a conventional king, will eventually receive a personal punishment. Regardless of who won or lost.

There are some plot roughnesses and a non-critical sagging, particularly in the sixth episode. But in general, we have an appropriately gloomy, hopelessly far from the usual light-hearted movie comics, quite powerful development of one of Batman’s fiercest opponents. So, in a world where everyone thought he couldn’t fly, this Penguin has quite rightly flown as high as the highest penthouse in bloody Gotham allows.