Category: Historic gangster drama/TV series tie-in.
Directed by: Tom Harper
Similar to: The Dark Knight Rises (but in Birmingham).
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I wouldn't consider myself a Peaky Blinders fan. I liked it, sure, but not enough to make Red Right Hand my ringtone or to get a Peaky Blinders haircut - I was much more a fan of how they recreated the time period. The series did a fairly good job of presenting the ethos and spirit of post-WW1 Britain, but my main gripe with the series was how Tommy Shelby kept on surviving assassination attempt after assassination attempt. That, and the very last episode which verged on outright ridiculous.
But as they say, no good deed goes unpunished, and given how popular the series was, there was always going to be an attempt to revive the IP in some form be it a movie or a series return. So with that in mind, we get the feature-length movie Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man.
Oh man. I'm not a fan of that subtitle for starters...but here goes!
The plot:
The movie starts off in Germany where we see a large-scale operation where counterfeit British banknotes are ready to be shipped to England in order to ruin the British war-time economy, the transport of which is being facilitated by Beckett (Tim Roth).
Back in Birmingham, the small arms factory is bombed and the Peaky Blinders – now led by the estranged son of Tommy Shelby, Duke (Barry Keoghan) – steal what weapons remain. The fact that the Peaky Blinders are still a thing creates a headache for Ada Thorne (Sophie Rundle) who is the MP for the area and just happens to be the sister of Tommy (meaning Duke is her nephew).
So much corruption, even the state of Victoria is taking notes...
Tommy (Cillian Murphy), however, is disinterested in the goings on in Birmingham or in the Peaky Blinders in general – he has simply retreated to a very large countryside property, his only companion being Johnny Dogs (Packy Lee), while he struggles with the trauma of everything he has done over the years as he spends his days drinking, smoking and writing his memoir. One day, Tommy is visited by Kaulo (Rebecca Ferguson), the twin sister of a woman Tommy impregnated to conceive Duke and who reminds him that he has holds the title King of the Gypsies. Tommy agrees to go to Birmingham to help set Duke straight on the promise that Kaulo will help him find peace - a reference to Tommy's complaints that he is haunted by spirits.
Meanwhile, Ada, disgusted by her nephew's flagrant disregard for the law and the national war effort, collects witness statements from people who witnessed the Peaky Blinders' ammunition plunder and plans to give it to the military police. Beckett, who has cut a deal with Duke to get the counterfeit notes to get in to England, goads Duke in to shooting Ada before she can reach the military police as the punishment for stealing war supplies is hanging. Duke fails to shoot Ada, so Beckett does the job himself before Tommy can stop him.
This put Beckett in Tommy's sights and they get into a shootout at the mortuary where Ada's body is being held, though Beckett manages to slip away.
Tommy gets what is left of his gang together - Johnny Dogs, Charlie Strong (Ned Dennehy) and Curly (Ian Peck), alongside Duke, Stagg (Stephen Graham) the dockmaster and some others. Arthur is no more as he was killed by Tommy after crashing his car due to an opium overdose. The group plan to attack the docks where Duke, still working with Beckett, reveals some of the plans to Beckett but leaves out crucial details to allow his father safe passage.
The group manage to overcome Beckett's German mercenary force, leaving only Beckett and a very large pile of counterfeit money. They then sneak in where Tommy manages to fatally shoot Beckett and destroy the money, but not before taking a couple of bullets himself. Realising he is near his end, Tommy implores Duke to finish him off with the bullet with his name engraved on it. Duke is hesitant to kill his father, but finally acquiesces.
The last scene of the movie is Kaulo reading Tommy's manuscript titled "The Immortal Man", and then Duke leads a Gypsy funeral procession as he inherits the title of Gypsy King.
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The high production values that defined the Peaky Blinders TV series are definitely here - the excellent sound, soundtrack, costumes, make-up, sets, streetscapes - excellent production all around. I'd go so far to say that the juxtaposition of having the story set in WW2, but using a modern soundtrack is brilliant!
So we know it's well-made, but is it an excellent movie? No, but it's also not terrible. Removed from the TV series, this is essentially a gangster period drama with supernatural elements. Think "The Dark Knight Rises", but most everyone is Brummie and there are no Batmobiles.
If you're a Peaky Blinders fan, you'll get some value out of this and maybe even have a cry at the end since Tommy Shelby is FINALLY dead (unless they somehow retcon that). But the biggest feeling I got was that they made this movie to finally put an end to Tommy Shelby so that Cillian Murphy can move on with other things, and this leads me to a rant:
I couldn't imagine anyone else playing Tommy Shelby. But the problem with Cillian Murphy being so iconic as Tommy Shelby is that every movie Cillian Murphy is in, we now see Tommy Shelby instead.
Dunkirk? Tommy Shelby in uniform!
Oppenheimer? Tommy Shelby the scientist!
The Dark Knight Rises? Tommy Shelby is an evil psychiatrist!
STAR RATING: 3/5
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