Review of Gangs of New York (2002) by Russell F — 08 Nov 2011

The greatest living American filmmaker returns to form in a triumph of raw cinematic power. Gangs of New York is, quite honestly, nothing short of a masterpiece of pure craft and passionate heart. Martin Scorsese's dream project finally exploded onto the screen after years of planning to reveal a blood-and-thunder American epic, audacious in its ambition and awesome in its achievement.

Scorsese's historical spectacle brings a brute freshness to the Hollywood epic and confirms his abilities as a master storyteller. It's a story of violence, revenge, racial intolerance and class struggle, and it's a story told extremely well.

Although it received mixed reviews from critics, Gangs of New York will be a film that will only grow in stature and importance over time. As you watch it unfold, you find yourself understanding exactly why the man behind the camera remains such a significant influence in modern cinema.

However, Gangs of New York also boasts one of the greatest cinematic performances of all time; Daniel Day-Lewis's sneering, roaring, monstrous portrayal as the Butcher will remind you of the seemingly superhuman work Robert DeNiro performed in his prime.

Gangs is Scorsese's impassioned, elegiac portrait of a time when blows were delivered with fists, bats, and blades rather than airplanes and anthrax; it's his look back at a lost world, his urban western.