Thoughts after seeing the movie for the 1st time... (SPOILERS!)
This is about my thoughts on the movie, so obviously big spoilers ahead.
I just watched the movie yesterday after having waited to do it for quite some time. I wanted to do it justice and therefor waited until there was time for me to rewatch the series and to then see what I considered to be the last chapter of that saga. I've seen that this movie is a bit controversial so let me start by saying that I have no Intention of hating on it.
The movie looked gorgeous throughout, I can get behind all the Major plot Points of the Story and the last Scene was a very well done farewell to an iconic character, especially with that great final song they added to it. Tears were close, the good bye felt heavy.
But here comes the but... I am an emotional watcher, I love a good story and a good song under the cight circumstances works like cutting onion to me. All the ingredients were there - a character that accompanied me over a long time, an emotional ending of a well-told story, a few very well chosen words of good bye and that song - it should have had me in tears for half an hour. But it didn't. And I think, thats kind of the movies fault for preventing me from getting really into it.
As I said, the major plotpoints aren't a huge issue for me, specific parts of the plot kept me out though:
- Rom Baro. The gypsy king. A concept like that has never been introduced in the series. We know that Polly was seen to have such a status but it seemed to apply within a specific family. Is the Rom Baro higher than that? If yes, why hasn't that been talked about earlier? How much sense does it make that the title seems to be inherited by child - as if it is an actual crown? Do we really think that the people around when Tommy died, merely seconds ago, really felt the need to make sure that Duke knew that he was now seen as such a king? This felt like a plot device only there to ramp up the weight of the story.
- No real villain. One of the staples of the series was the presence of an intriguing villain. They grew more and more intimidating over the series - but in the movie, thats completely different. The agent Beckett seems way too nice, why would he give Duke a 2nd chance after he showed himself not ready to execute an order? Why was he so gullible to run right into a trap? Was this really an attempt to play into the "Duke seeks a father figure" trope because if yes - they did a terrible job doing it. Because it wasn't clear enough and the solution was even more weak since even at the end of the movie, the situation between Tommy and Duke was exactly the same as before the movie since they didn't have any real moment or conversation that really showed that something changed - except for the mud kicking.
- Pub Scene. It was intended to show how badass Tommy still is. Love the concept. But that particular scene still felt a bit off. I mean, do we really think that Tommy would kill a soldier with no remorse? Couldn't that group that partied there just be some sort of goon? Violent dumb people who in part actually didn't know who Tommy was? And why did the soldier, a person trained in handling grenades, run so conviniently out of the pub with the grenade instead of trying to pull his clothes and get rid of the grenade? Did he want to save everybody but himself? The scene felt gimmicky, I can't accept that this couldn't have been written a bit more grounded.
- Arthur. I learned about the struggles of the actor and I think, the decision to kill him off off-screen is servicable enough. I agree with fans who say that he is one of the cornerstones of the series and therefor deserves more but it seemed like he was simply incapable and therefor, I wouldn't hold it against the writers per se. The decision to have Tommy be the one felt a bit off - considering there were more than enough villains left from season 5, I guess I would have gone for a different story but even if we accept that Tommy had to be the one, I think it needed better exposition. A simple "drunken rage" doesn't do that connection justice, so either find another way or at least don't skip over it so quickly.
- Devices. There were so many things in the movie that felt as if the writers had some sort of checklist with items they wanted to make use of for some sort of effect. Opium check. Gypsy magic check. River boats check. Horses check. Suit, flatcap, whiskey check. And some just weren't really integrated well enough and felt off even though they are in the exact correct environment. As soon as they started to talk about a plan on how to get into the ware house, I knew it had to be through some sort of tunnel. Because trauma... Okay film, is there a chance we can have that a little less shoddy?
- Duke. The script felt as if it didn't know what to do with him. We know from the series that he has no issues killing a man in cold blood. The film then introduces him as "maybe more violent than 1st generation Shelby" but half a scene later, we see how he botchers the execution of an unknown goon and then seemingly having second thoughts about it? I mean, figure it out - the guy is either a volatile mess because of his craving for a father figure and/or urge to prove himself or he is a force of nature like Tommy is that slightly has lost direction. But the movie picked neither of those. Only to then name him Rom baro at the end...
- The end of Tommy. It was depicted to be a final relieve and I get that. But I think it could have been made way more effectful. Why did the movie in the beginning waste time on Tommys connection to the strange woman nobody knew while instead that could have been cut short and instead they could have showed Tommys suffering? Show him actually being haunted by his ghosts. Show him being actually devasted by all that. Show him having internal dialogues that depict his inner war and conflict. Show some of those demons return to him in Birmingham and while executing the plan. We know that Cilian as an actor would have been able to do so much more on that and every investment there would have amped up the weight of him finally returning and in the end, to finally leave all that behind to be free. It was an easy win and for the life of me, I can't understand why the writers missed that opportunity for a really really well-earned payoff. For the gain of... nothing.
After all - all this criticism doesn't come from a place of hate. It comes from a sense of sadness about what feels like a lost oppourtunity. Of potential that was there but wasn't made use of. The Peaky Blinders series is so extraordinary because of the internal struggles depicted on screen amidst a gangster saga with powerful adversaries. The movie, for me, didn't even attempt, to follow up on those strengths. I didn't want a happy ending, I just wanted an ending that did justice to the series and the journey we've been on for 38 hours if you include the movie. For me personally, I probably will continue to see season 6 as the end of the saga. With the movie feeling like some sort of fan fiction that is well meant but not executed at the same level of the series.