Review of Gangs of New York (1938) by Matthew H — 03 Mar 2014

Gangs of New York had my eyes glued to the screen as an amazing, stunning, historical piece to Martin Scorcese's filmography, until the final third of the movie where it fell a little flat. The plot twists and smooth storytelling Scorcese is famous for just went into thin air. I don't want to spoil the movie, but after a major scene between Daniel Day-Lewis and Leonardo DiCaprio, the movie gets a little banal and dried up until one of the very last dramatic scenes. The pace and the throbbing heart that kept this movie alive just suddenly fails to keep going. The story slows down, and not much happens for a while. Now, don't get me wrong; this "final third" isn't the worst part of a movie I've ever seen. It's just that compared to the rest of the movie, this part lags and is a touch dry.

Other than that, this is a great movie with a talented cast and a great director. The story isn't all that complicated, but Scorcese's great filmmaking talents pull it off and make it interesting. It is for all I can see historically accurate, and it really has the feel of the violence and desperation of that time period. This is one of the best roles of Daniel Day-Lewis (The first being There Will Be Blood, of course).