I saw this on Netflix and decided to re-watch it, because it had been 16 years or so since I'd seen it and I remember having mixed feeling about it. However, I decided I might have a different reaction, since it was so long ago. I had nearly forgotten everything about the movie except that Daniel Day-Lewis was Bill Cutting and it was set in the mid-1800s in New York. Seeing Liam Neesson, Leonardo DiCaprio, John C. Reilly, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent and others was a surprise. However, before the opening scene was even over disappointment began to set in. I understand that CGI was not as prevalent in 2002 as it is now, but the battle choreography of the opening battle was on about the same level as an episode of Hercules featuring Kevin Sorbo. However, previous examples of portraying melee combat without CGI including Braveheart and Gladiator were far superior, so I know it could have been better even in 2002.Then we have a time Jump and Amsterdam, played by Leonardo DiCaprio is now intended to be the protagonist. However, his character is worthless, misguided and unfortunately effortlessly good at everything he tries. Despite being locked away in prison for 16 years, Amsterdam knows all of the ins and outs of the Five Points criminal world, and his time in prison has absolutely no lingering effects on him. His main motivation is to kill the man who "murdered" his father, but in reality Bill Cutting killed a hated rival gang leader and then gave him all of the respect possible. There was no murder, and no real need for revenge. Plus DiCaprio's actions did not really even feel like revenge plot. There was no point in hiding his identity. He was needlessly mysterious. Also, there is really no reason for people to stay in the Five Points. It's a big country, and did not convey a sense anyone was trapped there. People stayed and were just horrible individuals because they could be.Worse the whole wealth/society injustices and inequalities were very ineffectively handled in my opinion. Despite, the weird cinematic gimmicks that tried to convey the war, there was only one scene that resonated, when the new immigrant Soldiers were being loaded on a boat as the coffins presumably carrying the remains of other immigrant Soldiers were being offloaded from the same boat. However, not having the war be personally talked about or known to the characters detracted from this point. Worse, the only semi-main character tied to the riots concerning the war was Boss Tweed. So, as the final act of the movie began Bill and Amsterdam were completely on different narrative and plot levels from the Civil War. Another 2002 movie, The Pianist, does far more to weave the main plot into the war time narrative than Gangs of New York.As the last act begins, Amsterdam is now a leading gang member, having effortlessly resurrected his father's gang, and a leading Irish-American rights leaders. In order to settle things he once again has to face off against Bill Cutting. Some some subpar battle choreography begins, before the movie reaches a very anti-climatic ending, with Bill Cutting dying and I guess Amsterdam sailing off to San Francisco with Jenny (Cameron Diaz's character). What is a bit infuriating is the 1994 version of Lion King had a more action packed and rousing final confrontation and it was a G rated cartoon (though I think that is a misrating and it should have been PG).The epilogue tries to lament the forgotten history of the place, but it falls flat. Neither battle was meaningful in any sense. The priest was a minor gang leader, and Bill Cutting may have been an important gang leader, but how often do criminals from 140 years or more have much bearing on people's lives? Overall, the movie lacked suspense, which is disappointing since Scorsese and DiCaprio demonstrated they were quite capable of suspense in The Departed. In nearly every category this movie was lacking, except for DDL as Bill Cutting. Yet, the rest of the movie devauled that performance in my opinion. You'd be much better off watching There Will Be Blood. It's action was bad. The protagonist sucked. Cameron Diaz made almost no difference as the love interest. The plot was isolated from the most important aspect of the movie. Worse yet, Scorsese tried to used narration and voice overs to capture the zeitgeist of the Civil War era, instead of showing us through the characters. It was a god awful mess and a waste of time.The most resonating part of the entire movie for me was seeing the "modern" New York skyline of circa 2001, with the Twin Towers rising above everything else. Anyone else watched it recently? What do you think of it? via /r/movies https://ift.tt/2N0cYMz
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