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Wow, usually movies don't have violence so out there I cringe, but Gangs of New York is really brutal. Martin Scorsese directed this film as his swan song. He has done all the movies he ever wanted to do and Gangs was 20 years in the making. In fact Daniel Day Lewis, (Last of the Mohicans) came out of semi-retirement to be the most vicious character since Freddy of the Elm Street fame, as William Cutting, AKA Bill the Butcher. This movie is over two hours long and becomes slow at times, so the story could have been wrapped up sooner, but this is still a very fine picture. The movie begins in 1846 with two gangs battling it out in the streets. The gang of the dead rabbits led by Priest Vallon (Liam Neeson, K-19 The Widowmaker) show up in the Five Points area of NYC and take on Bill the Butcher and his men, all natives. Bill is wielding a meat cleaver and a very large boning knife. Now who would take on a man swinging knives like that, and yes he knows where to strike the blow to do the most damage. Bill goes through the group of men, swinging left and right, until he kills the priest, right in front of the man’s young boy. The battle is over. Everyone takes their booty, ears and fingers, as souvenirs with the exception of the priest, he will pass on intact. The priest's boy is taken to a children's prison and 16 years later he (Leonardo DiCaprio, The Beach & Titanic) is released and returns to the Five Points to avenge his father’s death. They have a celebration every year to commemorate the priest’s death. The Civil War is happening in the South and Irish Immigrants are arriving by the thousands, only to be scorned by the natives at the dock and welcomed into the Union Army once they step into New York. Vallon's arrival coincides with a ship docking, so he is considered an Irish immigrant. Vallon heads straight to the spot where he buried the knife that killed his father and is accosted by a childhood friend, Johnny Sirocco (Henry Thomas, All the Pretty Horses) and is taken under his guidance. Corruption, crime, and violence are everywhere, hmmm not unlike present day New York. Through Johhny, Vallon meets Bill the Butcher, who takes a fancy to the man Vallon, who introduces himself as Amsterdam and is taken under Bill's wing. Johnny also introduces Amsterdam to the lovely pickpocket Jennie Everdeane, (Cameron Diaz, The Sweetest Thing) he kinda fancies her and she seems to fancy Amsterdam. Add betrayal, murder, mayhem, corrupt politicians, and a draft riot and that would be Gangs of New York. The savage violence in this movie is a little daunting at first, but I got used to it. I did have a problem with Cameron as a slutty, pickpocket. She came off as too prim and sweet to be as cunning as she was supposed to be. Leonardo was not all that convincing either. He ran hot and cold with his contempt for Bill Cutting. Also in this film was Jim Broadbent (Moulin Rogue!), John C. Reilly (The Good Girl), Brendan Gleeson (Artificial Intelligence), and Roger Ashton-Griffiths to name a few. Jay Cocks wrote the story and screenplay. It was fascinating to see Bill the Butcher take as much pleasure in gutting a man as he did farm animals. The man also had a sense of humor. In the end though, it didn’t matter much about vengeance, Irish immigrants taking over or politics. Overall this was a great movie, a little too long, but still enjoyable. I gave Gangs of New York a nine on the About-Movies.com scale. bye
Last updated: Thursday, March 20, 2008 02:48:40 AM Click Here to get back into frames.
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