It’s easy to feel like you’ll know exactly what you’ll get once you see stills from Guy Ritchie’s MobLand, which stars Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren. But while it features cliches of the mafia genre, MobLand is far from boring. Plenty of things are happening all at once, and in lesser hands, these storylines would’ve been a mess. But under Ritchie’s veteran guidance, things come together elegantly. It helps that Hardy is the perfect lead. Sure, he’s tough as the London underground’s main fixer, but he’s also surprisingly polite at times and quick-wittedly humorous at others. In the show’s quieter moments, he even manages to be poignant. The changes in tone are never jarring, instead always arriving at the right time. Even if Ritchie and Hardy have directed and starred in too-many-to-mention mob stories, they still delight and surprise in this enjoyable British series.
Synopsis
Two mob families clash in a war that threatens to topple empires and lives.
Storyline
When London’s two biggest crime families get into war, it’s up to fixer Harry de Souza (Tom Hardy) to manage the crisis.
TLDR
It’s one of the better mob series to come out recently; more fast-paced and thrilling and less dependent on genre cliches.
What stands out
The sharp script, which funnily enough, began as a Ray Donovan spinoff. I’m just thankful it evolved into this British gem.
