Review of Gangs of New York (2002) by Harpreet S — 21 Sep 2012

Martin Scorsese's "Gangs of New York" surpasses "Cape Fear" as his worst and only below average picture thus far. It's set in the late 1800s where Irish immigrants are arriving in New York; there is the Civil War, and territorial war going on between different gangs.

The plot is incredibly predictable, poorly written characters and it being unnecessarily lengthy. The introduction where Bill the Butcher (Day-Lewis) kills the young Amsterdam (DiCaprio)'s father is abrupt and poorly done.

Day-Lewis' performance is very good; his mannerisms, facial expressions, the way he spoke surprisingly shared similarities with Robert De Niro. Aside from maybe Bill the Butcher, there is no other character I loved and it's not a world I find appealing.

Scorsese seems to try to mix theater and realism; at times I don't know if I should take the violence seriously or not. He also is unable to create a balance between telling the story of Amsterdam's revenge while enlightening us on the history of New York and its gangsters.

There is a lack of development and intimacy between its characters. Not much else to say, there aren't many positives aside from Day-Lewis and maybe its technical achievements. Lifeless!