Matt Reeves’ The Batman was the latest attempt to try and see just how dingy and serious Hollywood could get the Dark Knight and even compared to Zack Snyder’s bat-branding slaughter machine, things got pretty damn dark. And yet, years after we were introduced to a emo, insomniac Batman; a serial killer incel Riddler and a world far more concerned with down-to-earth crime than flamboyant super-villainy, things have been pretty quiet on that particular front as the rest of the DC cinematic universe got a ground up reboot.
However, things don’t stay quiet in Gotham for long and finally, this corner of the DC rosta has managed to get some forward motion in the for of the HBO spin-off, The Penguin. While it initially sounds weird that the portly, misshapen gangster would get a solo show when we also had Zoë Kravitz’s slinky Catwoman and a Joker played by Barry Keoghan with a mouth like a ripped out fireplace, fans will unanimously agree that The Batman’s most memorable aspect was the sight of Colin Farrell buried under a ton of prosthetics to play the waddling wise guy with big plans.
It’s time to claim a city.
It’s been only a week since monstrous mob boss Carmine Falcone fell before a sniper’s bullet and the Riddler detonated Gotham’s seawall in an attempt to flood out the rich – but in the aftermath, it becomes apparent that this act of a deranged fanatic has caused more harm to the lower classes as the more low-rent areas have sustained terrible damage.
In this period of rising poverty and criminal disorder, mid-lever mobster Ozwald “Oz” Cobb is trying to cut some losses by breaking into the wreck of the Iceberg Lounge in order to raid his deceased bosses safe for valuables. However, he’s practically caught in the act by Alberto Falcone, the drug addicted heir-apparant to the Falcone crime empire. However, while Oz manages to talk his way out of the compromising situation, their nostalgic chat soon turns serious when Alberto starts mocking the “Penguin” and his quaint dreams of being a beloved urban figure and Oz promptly empties his gun in Gotham’s would-be Kingpin in a spontaneous act of rage.
This obviously leaves Oz in something of a worrying predictiment and things get even more complicated when, while trying to move the body, he finds his plumb-coloured car getting jacked by young street punks. Cornering one to aid him, the terrified Victor Aguilar, Oz manages to lose a body and gain a new recuit; but the hits just keep on coming when he finds out that his bosses have decided to shut down his drugs arm based in the waterlogged Gotham for a far safer spot which essentially leaves Cobb out of work – worse yet, Alberto’s protective sister, Sofia has recently been let out of Arkham Asylum and is increasingly suspicious about her brother’s disappearance.
Oz’s first instinct is naturally to get to his mother and skip town, but in a period rife with uncertainty and confusion, Oz realises that the time may have finally come for the Penguin to take flight.
We now seem to be living in a golden age of Batman villains, where pantomime criminals now get unfeasibly gritty solo projects that allow them to stretch their legs while finally escaping the shadow of the big bad bat. The most obvious example is Joker, Todd Phillips’ loose, Taxi Driver-inspired, retelling of the origin of Batman’s most famous nemesis; but while we’ll leave the ridiculous excesses of the villain-centric TV show, Gotham off the table gor the time being, we now have an entire season dedicated to the rise of the Penguin. It’s a conceptually perfect choice to follow up The Batman with a spin off that has the space to maneuver around the detailed and dense underworld that Matt Reeves created and it makes even more sense to zero in on the misadventures of Oswald Cobb to bridge the gab between the first and the inevitable, yet delayed second film.
But, despite the fact that Joker hoovered up more money than the Clown Prince of Crime could probably burn, is the world ready for an utterly Batman-less Batman show? I’m mean, even Gotham got Bruce Wayne in the pointy-eared suit at some point. However, The Penguin has something of a secret weapon in Colin Farrell’s insanely memorable portrayal of the physically twisted criminal that not only fused the best parts of Jimmy from Goodfellas and Big Boy Caprice from Dick Tracy, but it was fucking fascinating trying to spot the Farrell we knew anywhere under acres of make up and fake jowls and failing almost every time.
Well, I’m glad to say that this continues comfortably into the first episode of The Penguin as we watch Oz take his first, loping steps towards claiming Gotham as his own and while it covers a lot of ground by introducing a new cast of characters who have risen out of the woodwork in the wake of old man Falcone’s death. However, the bulk of the first episode is mainly about giving us a clearer idea about what makes the titular bird tick and even though a lot of it is cribbed from other, classic mobster movies, he’s still a complex guy to spend time with.
As mob bosses in waiting go, Oz is a fucking mess. He has dreams of being like one of those mob bosses of old who was seen as something of a folk hero to the people of the city and yet is far too duplicitous to even truly convince as a benevolent guy. As misshapen as he is on the outside (hello gnarled foot), his Richard III credentials are fully confirmed when we uncover that he’s a deeply scarred individual on the inside too who is as contradictionary as he is desperate. At turns vunerable and vicious, the main thing that Oz has on his side is that he has a talent for thinking on his deformed feet that helps immensely when his short temper sees him pumping multiple holes in the man lined up to be his next boss. Exactly how much of the kinder, more nostalgic Oz will be left at the end of the season remains to be seen, buy while we’re spending quality time with a Penguin who gets misty-eyed over memories of Slush Puppies and who seems under the thumb of his domineering mother who can’t wait to see him ascend, we also get a run down of the others caught in his orbit.
His main road block is the giant-eyed menace of Cristin Milioti’s Sofia Falcone who seems to be able to just about have the ability peer through his self serving bullshit at the merest glance and her icy menace (plus her hideous habit of slicing up armpits with piano wire) lines her up to be a major threat.
Elsewhere, Rhenzy Feliz’s Victor goes from potential victim, to Oz’s only true ally and we even get fan favorite Clancy Brown as prison dwelling, rival mobster Salvatore Maroni – but while Cobb starts to play his friends and enemies like a harp from hell, it’s still early days yet, the the lines between the two will undoubtedly blur.
A transformative central performance, a twisted plot and an oppressive atmosphere all means that Reeves’ bat-powered crime epic gets to expand – but who needs Bruce Wayne’s alter ego when we’ve got Penguin power to fuel this trip.
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