REVIEW: PEAKY BLINDERS - THE IMMORTAL MAN

4/5

The Fallen Son

112 Mins. Starring: Cillian Murphy, Rebecca Ferguson, Tim Roth, Sophie Rundle, Barry Keoghan & Stephen Graham. Screenplay: Steven Knight. Director: Tom Harper. On: Netflix.

Blood is blind, as the sins of the father are visited on the son for 'Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man', in cinemas and on Netflix. The Steven Knight classic creation (directed by Tom Harper), that has inspired more barbershop crewcuts and flat caps than an old man's pub, getting the BBC Films treatment, much like Idris Elba's 'Luther: The Fallen Sun' in 2023. And akin to that tweed coat and red tie, the suited and booted in the face crime drama feels more like the series it is and always will be, but is great to be shown on the big-screen. 'Peaky Blinders' left our screens about the same time we stopped wearing masks, after six seasons and just over a decade. The last we saw of '28 Days Later' franchise face, Cillian Murphy's Tommy Shelby, he was an MP for the Labour Party. Since then Murphy's law ('Batman Begins', 'Inception', 'Dunkirk') saw his win a Best Actor Oscar for Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer', by order of the Oscar Academy. An immortal man, indeed.

Yet Cillian returns to the character we know him best for, the Birmingham city gangster, taking out the trash. Albeit looking a little salt and pepper different under that cap (like I can talk). Tooling around his home like Christian Bale's Batman in 'The Dark Knight Rises', writing his memoirs, dressed to the pistol like Daniel Craig, or a Bond audition he swears he's busy for. Crafting character confliction like no other (that used to be his 'Inception' co-star Leonardo's art), haunted to those old blue eyes by the crimes he's committed and the mistakes he's made. The Howard Hughes exile won't last long, mind you, as he's brought back into the fray. And what an entrance to the bar top, as The Garrison is back open for business. Stick a pin in this explosive scene being one of the most epic entrance's in the franchises formidable fire and brimstone run. But what would bring the iconic Tommy Shelby back? How about a dynamite Barry Keoghan? Who is he? The trailer already tells you, but if you're saving it, I'm mum, like the late, great Helen McCrory.

Polly, Arthur and all the Shelby's before are more than missing in action in this big-screen bluster. Yet Keoghan ('The Killing Of A Sacred Deer', 'The Banshees Of Inisherin', 'Saltburn') makes up for all of that like the actor of the moment that he is. A wowzah of a wild-card shooting from the hip, and a big-name who has already shown he's about to hold all the cards as The Joker in 'The Batman' sequel. But this livewire is just like the 'Eternals' star joining Thor and Hulk (AKA Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo) as a blonde bike bomber in 'Crime 101'. Barry looks born to don the cap, and his chemistry with Cillian was already set with what they shared on a boat to 'Dunkirk'. Thick as thieves, or thick as pig s###? As these two get down on the mud before Murphy's Shelby rides through the city on the back of a horse, caked in it, and covered with the reaching palms of his constituents. Now, that's how you look like the legend that you are. Barry may bring it, but Cillian has cultivated it for a decade now. And when he dons the military fatigues you know he's bringing a war with him. Armed or not.

Brutal and beautifully shot and slow burning, yet life learning, 'The Immortal Man' plays a blinder for 'Peaky' lore and disorder. 'Dune' and 'Mission: Impossible' series star Rebecca Ferguson ('The Greatest Showman', 'Life', 'Doctor Sleep') is as underused as she is underrated, yet undeniable. Bringing it recently with Netflix's 'A House Of Dynamite and Amazon MGM Studio 'Mercy'. And most of the Shelby clan may be floating down a canal, but Sophie Rundle is still here and leaving her mark. Elsewhere 'Adolescence' Emmy winner Stephen Graham steps in for a recurring big name, similar to Tom Hardy. Giving us a glimpse of the old Liverpool docks in this great British drama of decades gone that also pays tribute to BSA munitions factory female workforce, who refused to go home when bombs were being dropped all around them. 'Peaky Blinders' has always brought the big names and guns. Sam Neill and Claflin, a brutalist Adrien Brody, and Anya Taylor-Joy. The great Tim Roth is no exception either, shooting it out with Shelby. All for an epic end that will live on in the bleak midwinter of immortality like Nick Cave's red right hand. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Further Filming: 'Peaky Blinders', 'Oppenheimer', 'Luther: The Fallen Sun'.