★★★★★
BLOODIED and beaten to a pulp, the virtually unrecognisable face of a man peers out of a muddy shallow grave.
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That’s the dark start to the second outing of The Gentlemen — out on Netflix today — setting the tone for the rest of the series, which pulls no punches.
The scene is one of the most shocking because the bloke who’s been left at death’s door is none other than the central character, Eddie Horniman, the Duke of Halstead — played by Theo James.
And if director Guy Ritchie can kick things off by virtually killing the leading man, then you get the feeling anything could happen. And it does.
The Gentlemen 2 is a white-knuckle ride of glamour — largely courtesy of Love Island host Maya Jama, who puts in a decent performance.
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It comes with lashings of laughs, romance and a constant undercurrent of danger, courtesy of the duke’s gangster cohorts.
If it all sounds rather similar to the debut series, then viewers will be pleasantly surprised.
Instead of lazily delivering more of the same, the sequel has a heightened sense of jeopardy throughout.
And there’s Downton Abbey’s Hugh Bonneville guest starring as an ostentatious lord, which balances things out with a side- splitting bit of campery.
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The whole eight-parter feels a little like a long audition for Theo to bag that much-talked-about James Bond lead.
If he isn’t cavorting with beautiful women, he’s behind the wheel of a vintage sports car, grappling with henchmen, or jet- setting across some sun-soaked foreign lands.
But he doesn’t always steal the limelight. Vinnie Jones’s character, gamekeeper Seacombe, comes into his own towards the series’ end, in a particularly breathtaking episode.
All in all, Ritchie has gone from a hugely-hyped debut in 2024 to achieving one of the most tricky things in TV — that difficult second series.
Now he faces an almost impossible task in serving up the third season, because this might just be the perfect Gentlemen.