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Gangs of New York (2002)
First of all This film deserves a lot of credit for its wonderful sets, costumes and cinematography. It was really a joy for the eye. Besides that, we have some good performances, with most notably Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting.
The story itself begins as a classic revenge tale. The father of Amsterdam Vallon (performed by a good DiCaprio), 'Priest' Vallon (Liam Neeson), is killed by Bill 'The Butcher' during a battle between the Irish gangs and the "native" americans. 15 years later, we see Amsterdam leaving the reformatory as an adult, out for revenge. This all takes place during the time of the Civil War.
Amsterdam integrates himself into the gangs and starts to win Bill's trust by serving him well and he slowly becomes his intimate. Bill is at this time one of the mightiest gang leaders in New York. He owns practically the whole neighborhood of the Five Points and the whole mob shares loot with him.
Meanwhile Amsterdam starts to fall in love with one of Bill's former girls, Jenny (Cameron Diaz). The problem is that Amsterdam's associate, Johnny, who knows Amsterdam's secret, is also in love with her. Out of pure jealousy Johnny snitches on Amsterdam and tells Bill that "his name is Vallon".
Up to that point, the film was extremely captivating to me and I was very interested in what would happen to the characters. But after Bill punished Amsterdam, the film starts to drag a little, in my opinion, and becomes less stronger. The quality of the visuals stay and it's still worth watching, but it seemed to me that the heart of the story was gone. We still get some nice riot scenes and the so called message of the movie, but the faith of the characters suddenly becomes of less importance, which is a shame!
It was still a very enjoyable movie and I certainly didn't regret watching it! Some scenes and sets in this movie were actually some of the best I've ever seen of this milennium! So there's plenty of eye candy to make up for the sometimes weaker plot. It's also a very good period piece and Martin Scorsese once again showed me, that he's worthy of being called the best director alive by many movie buffs. I rate this movie:
First of all This film deserves a lot of credit for its wonderful sets, costumes and cinematography. It was really a joy for the eye. Besides that, we have some good performances, with most notably Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting.
The story itself begins as a classic revenge tale. The father of Amsterdam Vallon (performed by a good DiCaprio), 'Priest' Vallon (Liam Neeson), is killed by Bill 'The Butcher' during a battle between the Irish gangs and the "native" americans. 15 years later, we see Amsterdam leaving the reformatory as an adult, out for revenge. This all takes place during the time of the Civil War.
Amsterdam integrates himself into the gangs and starts to win Bill's trust by serving him well and he slowly becomes his intimate. Bill is at this time one of the mightiest gang leaders in New York. He owns practically the whole neighborhood of the Five Points and the whole mob shares loot with him.
Meanwhile Amsterdam starts to fall in love with one of Bill's former girls, Jenny (Cameron Diaz). The problem is that Amsterdam's associate, Johnny, who knows Amsterdam's secret, is also in love with her. Out of pure jealousy Johnny snitches on Amsterdam and tells Bill that "his name is Vallon".
Up to that point, the film was extremely captivating to me and I was very interested in what would happen to the characters. But after Bill punished Amsterdam, the film starts to drag a little, in my opinion, and becomes less stronger. The quality of the visuals stay and it's still worth watching, but it seemed to me that the heart of the story was gone. We still get some nice riot scenes and the so called message of the movie, but the faith of the characters suddenly becomes of less importance, which is a shame!
It was still a very enjoyable movie and I certainly didn't regret watching it! Some scenes and sets in this movie were actually some of the best I've ever seen of this milennium! So there's plenty of eye candy to make up for the sometimes weaker plot. It's also a very good period piece and Martin Scorsese once again showed me, that he's worthy of being called the best director alive by many movie buffs. I rate this movie: