In the pressbook which Prime Video submitted as press material for The bad guyscreenwriters Ludovica Rampoldi, Davide Serino and Giuseppe G. Stasi cite as references The Count of Monte Cristo and Sciascia, theOdyssey and the Simpsons. The directors Giancarlo Fontana and (again) Giuseppe G. Stasi talk about westerns, Kurosawa and Shakespeare.
But looking at the first three episodes (they will be released on December 8; the next three, which I haven’t seen, will go on the 15th), the visual and narrative imagery of the series seems to take up the universe above all Breaking bad /Better call Saul: chains of cause and effect, characters with strong and peculiar traits, a bit like a comic book, mix of crime e black comedy; start from a detail and then get to a very long shot, shooting the action from unusual angles, dominance of warm tones in the colors. The other reference that comes to mind is Bang Bang BabyWhy The bad guy it seems like a more successful attempt to make an operation which, despite many differences, has a similar deep intention: mixing mafia stories, black comedy and pop debris to obtain a provocative and captivating, fun and stylish product.
The protagonists are Luigi Lo Cascio in the role of the magistrate Nino Scotellaro, who after having spent years fighting the mafia finds himself forced to change the barricade (becoming, in fact, the bad guy), and Claudia Pandolfi in the role of Luvi Bray, a brilliant lawyer specializing in defend criminals. But their primacy does not overshadow a whole world of characters and places that greatly enrich the whole, giving many truly effective moments: above all, the grotesque WowterWorld water park, whose tanks of killer whales have more disturbing purposes than simple entertainment. The third episode opens with a song-spot by Colapesce and Dimartino on WowterWorld, an idea that may not be very original but irresistible, memorable and memorable.
The first episode is perhaps the most tiring, above all due to the heavy make-up necessary to change Lo Cascio’s face, which is well motivated by the story but reduces the actor’s expressiveness and distracts the viewer a lot. Little by little, however, the series manages to win our trust and we start rooting for Scotellaro.
«The bad guy»
Ludovica Rampoldi, David Serino and Giuseppe G. Stasi
Prime Video, from 8 December