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James Marsh

4/5 stars
Colin Farrell delivers an extraordinary, transformative performance in The Penguin, HBO’s new limited series based on the DC Comics supervillain in which he reprises his role in Matt Reeves’ 2022 film The Batman.
The eight-episode crime drama charts the rise of Oswald Cobb (Farrell) from small-time mobster to kingpin of the Gotham City underworld.
While existing in the same cinematic universe as Reeves’ film, the show eschews all the familiar comic-book trappings, and instead emulates the grounded, violent aesthetic of such revered gangster classics as The Sopranos and Scarface.


The Penguin picks up the action just days after the assassination of mob boss Carmine Falcone (John Turturro in the film, but played by Mark Strong in the show’s flashbacks), which left Gotham’s criminal community in disarray.
Cobb, who managed the family’s Iceberg Lounge nightclub, seizes the opportunity to make a power grab, murdering Falcone’s son and heir, Alberto (Michael Zegen), and snatching his incoming shipment of a new, game-changing party drug.
Simultaneously, Cobb takes a young street punk, Victor (Rhenzy Feliz), under his wing. Victor’s family were killed when The Riddler’s terror attacks flooded the city, decimating the impoverished neighbourhood of Crown Points.
Cobb’s power play coincides with the release of Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) from Arkham Asylum. Sofia was incarcerated after being convicted of strangling seven women, including her own mother, which earned her the moniker “The Hangman”.

She arrives home to find her father and brother dead, and her surviving relatives and rivals vying for control of the Falcone empire. Sofia is also aware of Alberto’s plan to revolutionise the city’s drug trade, which sends her into immediate conflict with Cobb, a man she has known almost her entire life.
To say that Farrell is unrecognisable as the Penguin would be a gross understatement. His transformation is astounding, building upon the groundwork laid out in the 2022 film and supported once again by the incredible work of make-up designer Michael Marino.
Previous incarnations of the character have varied wildly, from Burgess Meredith’s bird-like affectations in the 1960s television show, to the carnivalesque grotesquerie of Danny DeVito’s turn in 1992’s Batman Returns.
Earlier this year, the character was gender-flipped in an episode of the new animated series Batman: Caped Crusader, with Minnie Driver providing the voice of “Oswalda Cobblepot”.

Farrell’s interpretation of the character is unlike anything seen before, a physically malformed, hulking misanthrope propelled solely by his desire for power and respect.
According to Reeves, Harvey Weinstein was an inspiration for the Penguin’s appearance, but Farrell’s live-wire force of nature might be closer to Donald Trump as portrayed by Robert De Niro.
A New York crook with delusions of grandeur, the character is a monstrous creation forged by decades of envy and abuse while shackled to a fiercely co-dependent mother (brilliantly embodied by Deirdre O’Connell).
The show’s greatest achievement is the peeling back of his calloused layers to expose the fetid roots of his disfigured psyche, for which writer Lauren LeFranc and her team deserve huge credit.

In Sofia Falcone, The Penguin provides a perfect counterbalance to Cobb’s relentlessly scheming sociopath. Elegant, composed, seductive and as formidable as the most powerful members of her criminal empire, she remains determined to stake her claim on Gotham City.
Milioti, so wonderful in the time-loop romcom Palm Springs, is every ounce Farrell’s on-screen equal. She is beautiful where his Penguin is hideous, composed where he flounders, cultured where he can only swindle and sneer.
The oscillation of their relationship, from uneasy collaborators to sworn adversaries and back again, provides the narrative backbone to the series and is the source of a relentlessly escalating body count.
Other notable cast members include Clancy Brown, as rival gang leader Salvatore Maroni, who refuses to allow his incarceration in Blackgate Prison to stop him protecting his hard-won turf.

Shohreh Aghdashloo, whose voice alone deserves all the plaudits, dazzles as Maroni’s fiercely loyal wife.
Michael Kelly and Carmen Ejogo do their part, but it is Feliz, as Penguin’s young protégé, who provides the audience with our everyman entry point into this world, and deserves to become the show’s breakout star.
Batman fans may feel a little short-changed by The Penguin, which seems intended to exist beyond the reach of the Dark Knight. As the camera lingers on shadowy corners and rooftops, it is easy to catch oneself willing a heroic cowled figure to emerge from the darkness, albeit to no avail.
That said, just as Reeves was commended for evoking the sinister tone of David Fincher’s serial killer thrillers in The Batman, and Todd Phillips tapped into the sensibilities of Martin Scorsese’s unhinged anti-heroes for Joker, The Penguin unquestionably deserves its laurels, if nothing else than for making DC’s “Gentleman of Crime” a made man.
The Penguin will start streaming on HBO Go on September 20.


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HBO drama review: The Penguin – Colin Farrell is sensational as the DC Comics supervillain

Colin Farrell in a still from The Penguin.

In HBO Batman spin-off series The Penguin, Colin Farrell plays physically malformed New York mobster Oswald Cobb in a performance that calls to mind disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein – or Donald Trump as portrayed by Robert de Niro.

Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone in a still from The Penguin.

Michael Zegen as Alberto Falcone in a still from The Penguin.

Cristin Milioti as Sofia Falcone and Colin Farrell as her brother’s killer, Oswald Cobb, in a still from The Penguin.

Rhenzy Feliz as Victor in a still from The Penguin.

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Like Donald Trump as portrayed by Robert de Niro, Farrell’s New York mobster Oswald Cobb is a brilliant creation, backed up by a great cast


Like Donald Trump as portrayed by Robert de Niro, Farrell’s New York mobster Oswald Cobb is a brilliant creation, backed up by a great cast.


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An assessment or critique of a service, product or creative endeavour.  Film reviews, restaurant reviews, reviews of art exhibitions. (Eg. Crazy Rich Asians: an important film, yes, but a good one?)


Review

Review | HBO drama review: The Penguin – Colin Farrell is sensational as the DC Comics supervillain

Like Donald Trump as portrayed by Robert de Niro, Farrell’s New York mobster Oswald Cobb is a brilliant creation, backed up by a great cast