44/22
The DC Studios logo is set in a rainy Gotham alley
After the events of Batman (2022), Oz Cobb, aka The Penguin, is making a play for control of Gotham’s criminal underworld. Aside from the bat signal in the season finale, our Robert Pattinson has never been seen as the titular character in “Penguin.” In this short video, IMDb attempts to answer: Where is Batman?. Colin Farrell fought hard to get the smoking version of the Penguin in Batman (2022) but failed. However, for his own series, the character is depicted as an occasional smoker, with a strong passion for cigars.
The absolute tone and atmosphere are nailed
The umbrella falls and the logo changes to the Warner Bros. logo. Graham Norton and guest stars: Lady Gaga/Demi Moore/Colin Farrell/Richard Ayoade/Jack Savoretti (2024). Dark, dark, and brooding, but Farrell manages to capture the charm that Gandolfini’s Tony Soprano did.
Where to start with Farrell
There are similarities to the Sopranos, especially in tone. There’s a lot of dark stuff going on in this opening episode, but there are still moments of humor that fit the tone and don’t overwhelm it. Amazing is the right word. I love seeing talented star actors invest in roles like this, and whatever they’ve done with the Penguin transformation not only passes the eye test, but looks incredibly realistic.
Farrell completely immersed himself in this role as an actor
There’s always the risk of it being completely distracting if the makeup work isn’t good enough or falls a little behind. In the case of the Penguin, it adds to his performance and the overall quality of the series, because it’s such a good job. I may be a little biased because he was one of my favorite actors before this series, but I think this will bring him the praise he deserves. I never really get into a new series because I like to binge watch all the episodes at once, but I wanted to see how this one actually turned out.
Kudos to everyone involved in this project
It didn’t disappoint me, in fact it made me happy.