Explosive
Summary
Despite Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren’s questionable performances MobLand never fails to entertain with plenty of brutal violence and action scenes to keep things well paced.
Plot: Two mob families clash in a war that threatens to topple empires and lives.
Review: *Mild spoilers ensue* MobLand is the kind of show Guy Ritchie can do in his sleep as he is so good at painting these brutal worlds with a dark sense of humour. This new series stars Pierce Brosnan, Tom Hardy and Helen Mirren and it really is Ritchie at his best as he directs a couple of episodes himself.
Tom Hardy plays mob enforcer Harry Da Souza who works for Conrad (Brosnan) and Maeve Harrigan (Mirren). As you’d expect Hardy steals the show demonstrating great restraint as Harry; he never loses his cool even when it seems like everything is going wrong while the majority of the Harrigans are completely insane.
Young Eddie (Anson Boone) is the craziest member of the Harrigans and is such a total psychopath that you are desperate to see him get his comeuppance… which doesn’t actually come, but I’m sure it will in later seasons (if we do indeed get them).
Many have complained about Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren’s Irish accents which is understandable although having worked in Kerry in Ireland for a while a few years back, Brosnan’s accent isn’t actually far off. The problem is I’ve always found Pierce is better at playing more restrained characters without being over the top as he rarely convinces as a vicious mob boss. He has his moments with one scene being his quiet chat with Harry’s wife Jan as he comes across as threatening; it’s whenever he is going crazy with his shouting that it’s more funny than anything… which may be the point. I think Helen Mirren’s accent was worse coming off like a Lucky Charms commercial rather than a convincing Irish brogue. Anyway, I’ve gone on about their accents enough; now on to the rest of the show.
For a lot of the series I was actually on Richie’s (Geoff Bell) side as he was only retaliating for what the Harrigan’s did to his family. The Harrigan’s themselves are not good people and the only one who is sympathetic is Paddy Considine’s Kevin; I could have done without his prison rape storyline however, it was important to see how his character develops especially in the final episode. He’s a fantastic actor and arguably the best in the series.
On the action front, MobLand does not skimp on violence and I think the highlight has to be the whole Antwerp sequence with Harry going into one man army mode and shooting numerous goons. There is also that chainsaw scene and several other shocking moments to keep you on your toes. The show is well paced as there is that constant underlying threat of violence especially as the Harrigans are so unpredictable and volatile.
The stage is set for a second season which looks like the family may be fighting amongst themselves, so I will be there if and when that happens.
Overall, MobLand is over the top in every sense with Pierce Brosnan and Hellen Mirren showing no restraint whatsoever, but Tom Hardy never loses his cool as their enforcer Harry who always has their backs. It’s well paced and packed with violence including shoot-outs and explosions making this one of the best shows currently on television.