Director Martin Scorsese examines his two main characters and their personal issues very well, but at the same time he also shows us what was happening in the city of New York at that point of time. I never felt like Scorsese was more interested in any of them, he balanced it in a way that makes the entire film feel important. The problem I had with Gangs of New York is that it could drag alot in the begining,  I had a hard time not yawning through the first 30 minutes. But after those 30 minutes, it truly takes off and uses the plot to create a certain tension. This tension is there everytime Amsterdam and Bill are together on screen, I truly felt Amsterdams isolation and his lust for vengeance. This tension is also held up by the fact that Bill the Butcher is a unpredictable character that created a certain fear inside of me.

Daniel Day Lewis plays Bill the Butcher in a flawless way, as he puts fear into the viewer he also manages to entertain via dark humor. A perfect example of this is when he’s crying for the dead rabbit and at the same time telling Mulraney to find who ever killed this poor animal.  Leonardo Dicaprio’s performance isn’t anything remarkable but it’s not bad either, my only problem with the cast was Cameron Diaz. She felt nervous and unreal every single second she was on screen.  Which was the reason for me getting out of some scenes and simply “not feeling it”.

Scorsese’s stylish vengeance tale can drag at times and is held down a little by one awful performance from Diaz. Aside from that, it’s tense and has one extremly interesting character Bill the Butcher, that makes it alot better then what it is. I found the enviorment quite stunning and rich which awakend my interest in what was happening in the bakground. As it ends with New York evolving through time, it made me think about how all that’s left of us in the end is the story we tell.

|9 out of 10|
|IMDB|
|Trailer|

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