Gangs of London

Before anything, I will point out that my driving argument is that I don’t like gangster stories. What especially bothers me about them is the huge number of related unlikeable characters (the gangsters and their henchmen) and their overcomplicated plots – I can never follow the thread of who is fucking who. This fully applies also in this case. The first half of the series was still a lot of fun, especially with the crazy action and the brutal scenes, which were always very nice. The fifth episode, basically a stand-alone one, is a very polished home invasion and the clear peak of the series – Evans doesn’t mess around. Unfortunately, the last four episodes are directed by Xavier Gens, who I think is not a good as Evans and Hardy, and it can be seen, and it is here when Gangs of London stopped being fun and interesting. That said, I won’t hesitate to recommend it to fans of gangster stories. (09.11.2020)

A very violent pulp gangster epic or “modern Peaky Blinders filled with action choreography from The Raid with a pinch of Guy Ritchie". And Evans handles this premise not only with dignity, but also with brutal bloodshed and some gore during frequent, diverse and well-made action. It has everything you would expect from an orthodox gangster genre movie. Strong characters, a great cast, film artistry, fatality and backstabbing (literally in this case). It would be a success even as a gangster saga about a clash of several families/social classes, revenge, honor and family. But it is more than just an ordinary honest gangster series, thanks particularly to the choreography and raw action scenes. Evans doesn't lean on or remain indebted to the The Raid's reputation, which we can see in this movie as well. We see all of it. If it were an ordinary display of dumb, violent action orgies connected by a significantly worse substitute for a story, it would still very likely be a great movie. Yes, so this aspect is good and (not only) groundbreaking in the context of action series. Who has ever tried something like this in the form of TV series? In several scenes of Daredevil and a few times in Banshee? But here, exceptional action is not the main attraction. There are undoubtedly sequences that will become cult classics and will be endlessly analyzed in terms of performance, intensity and choreography. Despite all these qualities, however, the action component is “just" the icing on the cake of a quality gangster show. No, that's not really true. The Gangs of London cannot be reduced to a gangster saga with elements of action or an action series with elements of a gangster show. Both aspects go so inseparably hand in hand that they form a distinctive whole that one cannot help but fall in love with. If you have a strong enough stomach for it. | S1: 5/5 | (25.04.2020)

Gareth Evans serves up a gangster Opus Magnum in nine hours and it's the event of the year, maybe even the century. Evans has evolved perhaps two levels as a director and has given us a powerful tale of fate with tight characters, a compelling story, amazing action where violence takes on an absolutely different and new dimension. The boss of a British mob family is shot dead and the son puts all business on hold to go to war in search of the perpetrator, aided by Sope Dirisu, an undercover cop and the protagonist. Evans has really made the best gangster drama since Scarface where every character looks like a real gangster, and a large group of families are reunited. British Gangsters, British Gypsies, Irishmen with flintlocks, Nigerians with machetes, trained Turks, Danish Special Forces and more. The fatalism splashes out in all directions and Evans entertains with interesting twists and turns. Once again, the aciton in the style of The Raid is awesome. There are fewer fights than one would expect, but when they do happen, they are among the best in the genre, and the shootouts are excellent, too, breathtaking in their realism. I'd say every single action scene already has an iconic feel to it. Apart from the classic action, there is also torture, and a lot of unpleasant ways to kill a person. The highlight for me is episode 5 with its 35-minute home invasion. It’s so awesome that I nearly blew my head off with excitement. A glorious heart attack filled nine hours where I sweated, screamed, cheered and more than once watched with my diaphragm open. I have only one criticism of the series, and that is that from episode 5 onwards Evans hands over the director's chair to Xavier Gens, who concentrates more on the story and character development. I hope this series will see a 2nd season. Story*****, Action*****, Humor>No, Violence*****, Entertainment*****, Music****, Visual****, Atmosphere*****, Suspense*****. 10/10: (04.05.2020)

Very unsurprisingly, if Edwards is behind the direction of an individual episode, it rocks, the action scenes are the highlight of the year, the destruction of objects and bodies is dialed all the way to the right, and the cinematography comes up with some interesting tricks. It makes even the super-seriously rendered comic book plot with a bland protagonist pick up the pace and hook you, even though you know that's not really how things happen in any universe. Pure joy, up to and including the fifth episode, then the uninteresting directors Gens and Hardy take the chair, the chain almost completely comes off, and there are no action scenes for the remaining four episodes, the attraction I thought this series was made for in the first place. Otherwise, I have no problem with Edwards' need to create monumental mafia sagas whose world is concocted like a children’s notion of war (see also the second The Raid), but there's a guileless joy and childlike enthusiasm behind the heap of violence. But don't let anyone else interfere. (28.05.2021)

Finally, a series with great action, but unfortunately not enough of it. The intrigue and manipulations that I otherwise really enjoy were a bit over-the-top and confusing, there wasn’t a single character I could root for, and I even found myself getting bored at times. (05.09.2020)