The first impression you get from seeing Gangs of London’s poster is that it might be a modern spin on the tried-and-tested Peaky Blinders formula. While the show stars Peaky Blinders alum Joe Cole and centers around an Irish crime family, it’s very much its own beast. The show borrows liberally from other famous crime dramas, but it’s the brutal, explosive action that makes it stand out. Created by Gareth Evans (The Raid films) and Flannery, the show takes a tense ride through hour-long nine episodes, carving a path of destruction through the UK’s capital city.
After mob boss Finn Wallace gets murdered, his son Sean (Joe Cole) takes over, vowing to find who ordered the hit on his father. Undercover officer Elliot (Sope Dirisu) gets deeper into the Wallace Organization’s ranks, while the family’s consiglieres Ed and Alex Dumani, try to maintain peace between the volatile crime organizations operating in London. As Sean and Elliot try to navigate between the lines of deceit, it becomes clear that something much bigger is in play.
Almost everyone in the show is hiding something: Marian Wallace (Michell Fairley) has ties to the Irish mob, Ed Dumani (Lucian Msamati) tries to cover up Finn’s murder and former Kurdish freedom fighter Lale tries to subvert the standing agreement between the gangs by hitting a consignment of cows headed for Pakistani gangster Asif’s operations in London. Then there’s a shadowy Danish militia keeping track of everything, working with a handler for a group only known as the Investors.
Gareth Evans and Xavier Gens split up directing duties, each delivering taut, long action sequences where every bullet and punch feels impactful. There’s a bar fight scene in the first episode where a dart is used imaginatively to maim multiple people, and then another fight scene in the same episode where two men fight in a decrepit apartment complex around a cleaver knife. A later scene where families in caravans are gunned down feature a forceful use of shotguns (and grenades). The fifth episode features what is, perhaps, the most impressive action set piece of the series, with the Danish militia descending on a farmhouse with the precision of a military strike team. What makes the action so visceral, other than the cinematography and fight choreography, is that most of the people involved in these scenes are filled with a dire urgency, often terrified by the gunfights and violence ensuing around them.
Adapted from a video game, Gangs of London doesn’t do much in terms of originality when it comes to the plot. Other than the backstabbing going on, it’s full of tropes such as the pitiable, useless brother and the undercover cop getting in a relationship with a gangster’s daughter. The relentless pacing, however, keeps the story from getting too cold. The last two episodes aren’t as explosive, but they knit a compelling thread of shady deals and assassinations, leaving the door open for a more uncertain season two.
Gangs of London is very much a spectacle of a show, similar to how Game of Thrones was, especially in its last two seasons.
Its first season found a good balance between plot and action, but there’s a lot more room for characterization, save for moments such as when a father tries to save his son until his dying breath. Gangs of London isn’t quite as nuanced as Peaky Blinders in this department yet. Let’s hope that future seasons allow for more quieter moments.