MURDER CAPITAL (GANGS OF LONDON)

  

Halfway through Sky Atlantic's underworld epic 'Gangs of London' there is a fierce gun battle at a Welsh farmhouse.

Directed by Gareth Evans and Matt Flannery, it is an exhausting affair with balletic gunfights, explosions galore and lots of blood being splattered.

It's like a modern twist on a Medieval raid but with gunplay - loads of gunplay.

Imagine if 'Game of Thrones' had submachine guns and SWAT teams instead of swordsmen and archers and you would be in the right ballpark.

The episode epitomises everything that is good about Evans and Flannery's highly choreographed bullet riddled series.

But it also highlights its central flaw.

Because strip away the glossy, impeccably choreographed violent set pieces and you find a thin gangster tale.

Evans and Flannery's series begins with a shooting that sends shockwaves through the British capital's ethnic gangs.

Colm Meaney's Finn Wallace has for 20 years has overseen an uneasy peace between gangs of various ethnic origin, forming a lucrative cartel while posing as a developer.

However he is gunned down by two, nervous teenage assassins from a Welsh Travellers background.

Finn's heir apparent, Joe Cole's Sean Wallace is intent on finding those responsible and announces to the other crime bosses that no drugs or any other illegal goods will move through London until the guilty party is caught and vengeance is delivered.

However Sean's decree goes down as well as a Celtic or Rangers fan turning up woyk a ticket in the wrong end of an Old Firm match.

His credentials are questioned.

To make matters worse, he has warmed to Sope Dirisu's Elliott Finch, the son of a boxer who knows how to handle himself but is really an undercover cop tasked with infiltrating the Wallace gang.

The Wallaces, whose matriarch Michelle Fairley's Marian agrees with her son's quest for vengeance, also rely on Finn's closest ally, Lucian Msamati's Ed Dumani, his son and close adviser Papa Essiedu's Alex and their gang to help root out those responsible.

Elliott also finds himself drawn to the daughter of Ed Dumani, Pippa Bennett-Warner's Shannon, a single mother Shannon.

With Ed keen to rein in Finn and Marian's lust for revenge, the other gangs get restless.

Narges Rashidi's Kurdish gang leader Lale is deeply unhappy that her gang is being told to put their heroin operation on hold because the proceeds go back to rebels in her homeland.

The Kurds are also getting increasingly irritated by Asif Raza Mir's Asif Afridi's Pakistani mobster and his gang's efforts to undermine their heroin operation.

Asif also has an eye on the upcoming Mayoral Election in London, hoping his son Parth Thakerar's Nasir will win and give the family a veneer of respectability.

And if that wasn't enough there is an Albanian gang led by Orli Shuka's Luan Dushaj jockeying for position, Richard People's Mosi's machete wielding Nigerian gang and a gang of ex Danish Special Forces mercenaries knocking about led by Mads Koudal's Leif.

Gangs are pitted against gangs, as the Wallaces scour the country for Aled ap Steffen's traveller Darren and Alex Dumani is wooed by the Wallace Corporation's shadowy investors and their front man, Ray Panthaki's Jevan Kapadia.

And with Mark Lewis Jones' fearless Welsh Traveller leader Kinney also determined to protect Darren, gallons of blood just flows.

Evans and Flannery,  who were behind the acclaimed Indonesian action thrillers 'The Raid' and 'The Raid 2' present a vision of London that aims for the family machinations of 'The Godfather' trilogy, mixed with epic cityscapes that could be straight out of Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' trilogy.

Dues are paid to Sam Mendes' 007 film 'Skyfall,' John Carpenter's 'Assault on Precinct 13,' Martin Scorsese's 'Gangs of New York'.

And there is no doubt 'Gangs of London' is the most stylish British television show of 2020.

But it is also the most violent the country has produced.

It is not enough for bodies to be ripped apart with bullets.

Hands are collected by Mosi's gang in one particularly gruesome sequence.

Elliott engages in more than a few slugfests and is later waterboarded in another sequence.

Another significant character is impaled on railings in the bloody climactic episode.

And yet the show trades in clichés.

The Dumanis and Wallaces forged their alliance out of the "no blacks, no Irish" racism that existed in some sections of 1970's Britain.

Brian Vernel is the wayward Wallace son, Billy - a heroin addict naturally - while Valene Kane is his sister Jacqueline Robinson, an accident and emergency doctor who wants respectability and very long title to do with the family business.

The undercover cop falls for a Mobster's daughter and risks the integrity of his operation.

It also seems odd that massacre after massacre gets largely ignored by the media until the final episodes.

The London of Evans and Flannery's series is more like a modern day twist on Al Capone's Chicago.

And while Nasir's involvement in politics and Elliott's undercover activities offer the potential for a British version of 'The Wire', Evans and Flannery take the 'Game of Thrones' with guns approach instead.

Nevertheless, the sheer bombast and chutzpah of 'Gangs of London' keeps you invested.

So much so that you cannot wait to see what set piece the writers have created.

Evans directs several episodes, including the fifth featuring the Welsh farmhouse which is easily the most ambitious and thrilling.

However Colin Hardy and Xavier Gens, who share directorial duties, show they are also comfortable handling epic action sequences.

As for the cast, Cole relishes the chance to step up to the role of leading man - although Sean lacks the dramatic heft of Cillian Murphy's Thomas Shelby who he played opposite in 'Peaky Blinders'.

Fairley does a good job as the angry Matriarch and the other notable performances come from Meaney, Msmati, Essiedu, Bennett-Warner, Rashidi and Lewis-Jones.

Dirisu also establishes himself as the next big action hero, as Elliott high kicks, ducks, weaves, punches and shoots his way through the series.

'Gangs of London' will no doubt satisfy blood thirsty 'Peaky Blinders' fans with its stylised violence and ethnic rivalries.

It easily justifies a second series.

However it will be fascinating to see if Evans and Flannery can beef up their characters in another series with a bit more moral complexity.

If they do, it would take it more into Corleone territory.

They also would have a potential classic on their hands instead of a blood splattered gunfest.

('Gangs of London' was broadcast in the UK and Ireland on Sky Atlantic from April 23-June 18, 2020