For one of its first big series of the fall after the conclusion of House of The DragonMax has chosen the highly anticipated DC miniseries set in the same universe as the film The Batman by Matt Reeves. After his memorable chase in the last film, Colin Farrell is back in the shoes of the laughing sociopath Oswald Cobb, known as Oz, and has a lot to do in the wake of the events of the first film. An opportunity to climb the ranks of trafficking and crime in Gotham and become his own boss, with unexpected allies and enemies on the lookout… While the first episode (out of 8) of the series on the Penguin arrives this Friday in France (the other episodes will be broadcast on Mondays from September 30), we were able to see the first episodes in preview. We tell you everything you need to know in this review spoiler-free guarantee. NB: the series follows the events of the film The Batman, so it is essential to have seen it before reading.
Series Synopsis The Penguin
Starring Colin Farrell as Oz, aka the Penguin, the 8-episode series from DC Studios expands the Batman universe, initiated by the blockbuster The Batman by Matt Reeves, produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. Developed by showrunner Lauren LeFranc, the series focuses on the character played by Colin Farrell.
CNET France’s opinion
If you think that the HBO acronym in the credits is going to bring a crime saga to The Sopranos in the universe of Batmanyou’re way off the mark. While it does a good job of depicting Oz Cobb’s attempted rise to fame, played by Colin Farrell who blends in perfectly with a violent, pot-bellied, limping crime ace. A much darker and more menacing extension of Danny DeVito’s compositions in the second Batman by Tim Burton. When The Penguin begins, Oz sees an opportunity to try to be a middleman of choice for the trafficking of synthetic drugs. The same one that is the object of a raging fight between two mafia families: the Falcones, whose Carmine (Mark Strong) was recently killed, and the Maronis, whose godfather Sal (Clancy Brown) is incarcerated after the events of the film. Unlike a Tony Soprano, Oz has no foothold in this world and will attempt a dangerous and manipulative plan, while getting his hands dirty very quickly; this chaotic rise will make him find the way back to Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti, known to series fans as the Mother in How I Met Your Mother), recently released from Arkham Asylum after being accused of being a serial killer known as the Hangman – she has always maintained her innocence.
Gotham, the fictional city, has always been seen as an assortment of sprawling, seedy metropolises; the New York shoot gives the neighborhoods of Batman’s city, ravaged by a natural disaster, a more Brooklyn-like appearance. Evolving in nighttime sequences tinged with an omnipresent red, Oz and Sofia have very different ambitions but the same problem: that of being underestimated, never taken seriously by an entourage corrupt to the core. The Penguin’s major problem is that the mafia war wallows in the clichés of the genre, with charismatic actors but incapable of breaking out of a marked characterization. The shootouts follow one another in failed shots with a rather slow pace, supposed to give the opportunity to dig into the handful of main characters. Alas: the family context given to Oz does not deepen his profile of a mocking crook, and the series adds to him the services of a right-hand man of circumstance, namely a young kid from the Gotham neighborhoods, Victor, whom Oz takes under his wing. An idea of corruption and the impossibility of getting out of a criminal circle betrays the shallowness of the themes of the series. This one manages to take off, against all expectations, with the journey of Sofia Falcone, whose journey from a little princess of the mafia has become that of the black sheep of the family. Not buried under a mountain of prosthetics, Cristin Milioti proves more than convincing with a horror journey, which probably comes too late in the season to succeed in captivating the public – the weekly broadcast of the series can turn out to be a flaw given the uneven quality of the first episodes.
Oswald “Oz” Cobb, hero of the Penguin miniseries which airs this week on Max. Credit: HBO/Warner Bros. Television.
Apart from a few very funny moments, the papal seriousness of The Penguin is also one of its biggest weaknesses, crushed by a poorly dressed antihero who fails to add nuance to his crime saga, some elements of which are borderline pastiche. We can give the benefit of the doubt to Lauren LeFranc’s team (showrunner) for being more interested in giving him a formidable antagonist in the person of Sofia Falcone, but by joining the HBO stable, the miniseries pales in comparison to the illustrious crime sagas that have marked the network: The Sopranos et Boardwalk Empire. Despite the quality becoming more brilliant during the second part of the season (Warner made 5 episodes out of 8 available to the editorial staff), The Penguin struggles to justify its existence, and turns out to be the complete opposite of the very uninhibited Peacemakeranother major DC Studios series project.
What to see next The Penguin?
The DC universe on Max France is rich in Batman programs; we recommend that you follow up with the Gotham series, which does not have the same level of quality but explores the same underworld as the series Penguin. If you are lucky enough to be a subscriber to both Max and Prime Video, or watch Max with Prime Video, we highly recommend the new animated series. Batman Caped Crusader.
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