Peaky Blinders fans ‘betrayed’ by Immortal Man movie and this is the biggest problem
Peaky Blinders 'deserved' more
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man has left fans feeling “betrayed”, and one change may have prevented some of the biggest criticisms with the movie.
The original ending of Peaky Blinders was perfect – but, according to Steven Knight, he never saw that as the true conclusion of the story.
Four years on from that fiery finale, we’ve arrived at Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man. The divisive film follows Tommy as he returns to Birmingham during the Second World War, where he faces off against his son and the new leader of the Peaky Blinders, Duke, and tries to stop a Nazi plot.
Some characters return, others aren’t even mentioned. That’s just one of several complaints levied against the movie – if only it weren’t a film at all.
***Warning: spoilers for Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man ahead***
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man shouldn’t have been a movie
Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man is just shy of two hours long. In that time, here’s a quick breakdown of what happens:
- A Nazi sympathiser enlists the help of Duke, Tommy’s son and the leader of the Peaky Blinders, to flood the UK with counterfeit cash
- That same Nazi ally murders Ada
- Tommy emerges from exile and returns to Birmingham
- We find out that Arthur not only died, but Tommy murdered him in a burst of drunken rage
- Duke’s allegiances take a U-turn, and he decides to help Tommy against the Nazis
- The Nazi ally dies
- Tommy dies, with Duke mercy-killing him
There are also notable absences. For example, Finn Shelby – who vowed to get revenge on Duke for banishing him from the Peaky Blinders, isn’t seen or named.
Oswald Mosley, arguably the big bad of the series, doesn’t appear, nor does anyone mention him, despite the WWII setting. Alfie, a true fan favourite, doesn’t show up either.
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Considering all of the above, is there an argument that the Peaky Blinders movie should have been another series of TV? Absolutely.
If the story had been spread out over six hour-long episodes rather than a sub-two-hour movie, its braver and more controversial aspects would have been more palatable.
Even the fact that Tommy simply returns to Birmingham is a bit of an issue in itself. Wasn’t the whole idea of the series 6 finale – him riding off on his own as his wagon was set ablaze – that everyone would think he was dead? Yet, when the film opens, they all know where he is, and he even has Johnny Dogs helping him.
Peaky Blinders ‘deserved another series’
The story of The Immortal Man isn’t necessarily the problem. It’s the fact that fans have been asked to accept so much shock, upset, and change in an all-too-brief movie.
All of the fans’ complaints can be tied together with one criticism. The Immortal Man could and should have been another season of television.
“The series deserved either another season or a three hour movie. It seemed very, very, very rushed, and honestly just underwhelming. The ideas were not bad at all, but as I said, very rushed,” one user wrote on Reddit.
“The premise of the film was by no means bad but would have been better as another series imo. Six episodes, with the final episode drawing the show to it’s conclusion would have given them more opportunity to showcase the storylines and characters leading up to the last scene,” another wrote.
“It should have been season 7,” a third complained. “If it would have been a season 7, and the things that happened in the movie would have been more deeply developed, then the plot of this movie would have been amazing,’ a fourth argued.
“I think the plot would have been fine had everything had chance to breathe, but as a movie I don’t think it worked at all, it all just went by as a blur moving from one thing to another,” a fifth wrote.
Read more: All 6 Peaky Blinders stars who have died since the show ended
