Pennyworth: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		3.5

Pennyworth: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie Review

London falling.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III July 18, 2021

The ongoing glut of comic-related entertainment has paved the way for countless films and shows exploring the back roads of long-established properties, from Doom Patrol to Loki. Batman's not immune to this recent phenomenon, so why not explore the origins of his faithful butler? Pennyworth's first season took us to 1960s London where charming young Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon, Endeavour)), a former soldier in Britain's Special Air Service, transitioned to civilian life as a nightclub doorman and bouncer. Alfred's attempts to establish his own security firm were hindered by his dislike of violence, largely due to PTSD and the death of a fellow soldier nicknamed "Spanish" (Ben Wiggins), so he often took small jobs that included former SAS mates "Bazza" (Hainsley Bennett) and "Dave Boy" (Ryan Fletcher, Outlander) to do some of the heavy lifting. Things brightened up after he met lovely Esme (Emma Corrin, The Crown),, a dancer at the same nightclub who took a liking to Alfred but was unaware of his violent past... which would eventually be a factor in her untimely death. The resulting fallout was exacerbated by Alfred's increasingly dangerous jobs, not to mention a growing civil war between a militant fascist movement -- The Raven Society, led by Lord James Harwood (Jason Flemyng, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) -- and the English League for control of the country.

Several months have passed since the events of the first season, with the ever-growing Raven Union now having taken over most of the United Kingdom with muscle from the British Army; the small but mighty English League, on the other hand, remains in London with the support of Queen Elizabeth II (Jessica Ellerby) and includes newly-promoted Lieutenant Martha Kane (Emma Paetz) and Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge), himself recently named CIA section leader,. Standing the middle as usual is Alfred Pennyworth, who now runs The Delaney nightclub and welcomes all patrons with a strict ban on politics and firearms. Still relying on side jobs for income (some of which will hopefully be spent on a one-way trip to America along with Dave Boy and Bazza), one of them includes the retrieval of John Salt (Edward Hogg), a supposedly low-ranking Raven Union worker who turns out to be anything but. He escapes captivity and is later revealed to be a high-ranking Colonel who leads the research and development of "Stormcloud", an experimental chemical weapon which, when perfected, will kill its victims but remain largely undetectable. As the second season rolls along during 10 hour-long episodes, more is revealed about Stormcloud, Thomas and Matha's relationship, Alfred's plans to reach America, the emergence of young scientist Lucius Fox (Simon Manyonda), Raven Union's noseless leader Lord Harwood, and even the fate of Alfred's father Arthur (Ian Puleston-Davies), who was spoilered near the end of Season 1.

Although some of its narrative remains a bit muddy and crowded, one thing that I've consistently admired about Pennyworth is its playfulness in regards to historical accuracy. The Crown this ain't, and that's fine by me -- the show is too busy playing in its own sandbox to for all that stuff. Even so, a few characters seem to gum up the works, and not in a good way: perhaps the biggest offender is Bet Sykes (Paloma Faith), a sociopathic enforcer for the Raven Society in Season 1 who's now been promoted to Captain at an interrogation center. Her stint there doesn't last long and Bet's new path paves the way for a few entertaining moments (much of it in the company of Katie Browning [Jessye Romeo], an art student captured by the Raven Union), but her wild card schtick gets old pretty fast and I found myself tuning out every time she appeared on-screen. Maybe it's the over-the-top accent, innit?

Still, this is a mostly compelling batch of episodes and chances are if you enjoyed the first season of Pennyworth you'll find this to be a worthy follow-up. Warner Archive continues their support of the show on Blu-ray with a smaller set this time around: it's limited to two discs rather than three, but everything else about it remains the same...including a complete lack of extras, which is a bummer. A potential third season may be coming to HBO Max in the future.

Pennyworth: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive stays the course with another solid 1080p transfer of Pennyworth's all-digital source material. Perhaps the only potential area concern was the cost-cutting measure of limiting this to a two-disc release rather than three -- there's roughly 4.5 hours of content on each disc which, if compressed poorly, could spell trouble. Luckily the show makes it through largely unscathed, with only a few stray moments of awful banding and somewhat chunky-looking artifacts that creep into a few of of Pennyworth's darker scenes, and are often brief enough that most viewers -- depending on their setup -- may not even notice. (It's also worth noting that I noticed a few similar issues during the first season, so take that for what it's worth.) Aside from that speed bump, however, this is a largely pleasing presentation that shares many of its predecessor's strengths: a sleek and uniformly crisp image with excellent color saturation, good density, and largely robust shadow detail that gives way to a respectable amount of depth. Skin tones appear accurate and textures look great, especially during close-ups and on costume details. Overall, it's more or less as good as the first season -- maybe more of a true 4/5 as opposed to a 4.25/5 for the first season, but hardly cause for concern.

Pennyworth: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Likewise, this DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track isn't showy but does exactly what it needs to at almost every turn. Although much of Pennyworth is dialogue-driven, its (often unexpected) moments of action and suspense elevate this from an almost entirely front-loaded experience into something that regularly flirts with big-screen sonic spectacle. Though rarely overwhelming, the placement of key effects in rear channels gives many scenes a stronger presence and overall atmosphere, which also holds true for the original score by David E. Russo and Lorne Balfe. Conversations, though dialed back in both channel separation and overall weight, are nonetheless crystal clear and balanced nicely in the overall mix. LFE is reserved mainly for the score, as well as a few stray explosions and heavier shootouts.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during all 10 episodes. These are formatted nicely and do not suffer from any obvious sync issues, but they're placed a little low and barely fit inside the 2.00:1 frame.

Pennyworth: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in a standard keepcase with no inserts. Also in keeping with the previous season, no bonus features are included... unless you count those built-in Previously On segments, which I don't.

Pennyworth: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Bruno Heller and Danny Cannon's Pennyworth soldiers ahead in its second go-round, barely skipping a beat despite an early-season pause in production due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The returning cast and crew are joined by a few new faces, places, and threats, the latter of which includes a dangerous chemical weapon developed by the Raven Union. It's a fairly potent collection of episodes and one that's certainly worth a run-through, although a few speed bumps and too-familiar narrative beats slow things down a little at times. Warner Archive's Blu-ray presentation feels a bit cheaper as these 10 hour-long episodes are squeezed onto two discs rather than three, and the continued lack of bonus features is pretty disappointing too. Still, if you heartily enjoyed the first season... then in for a penny, in for a pound.