Review #415: 'Gangs of New York' (2002)

After seeing his father 'Priest' (Liam Neeson) murdered at the hands of rival gang leader Bill 'the Butcher' Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis) 16 years before, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns to the Five Points in New York seeking revenge. Not much has changed since he fled, as tension remains between the 'Natives', the Irish immigrants, the Chinese and the blacks, only Bill now rules over with an iron fist, helping corrupt politician William 'Boss' Tweed (Jim Broadbent) gain votes. With the help of old friend Johnny (Henry Thomas), Amsterdam finds himself working his way up Bill's ranks, and after thwarting an assassination attempt on Bill, Amsterdam wonders if he did it out of his desire to kill Bill himself, or a growing loyalty to his new employer.

Following a lengthy book-to-screen adaptation, Scorsese's historical epic reached the cinema screens 23 years after he bought the rights to Herbert Asbury's book The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld, amongst stories of studio fall-outs and arguments over final cut. It seems all those years of pondering did not allow Scorsese to fine-tune his vision, and although the film looks absolutely astonishing, the result is a bit of a mess, albeit one that never gets boring. Telling such a detailed historical account of America's fist-fights for power amongst mass immigration and racial tension could not have come at a more suitable time, as the 9/11 attacks occurred during production. But Scorsese chooses to cram this in with sub-plots of political corruption, a love-story between Amsterdam and thief Jenny (Cameron Diaz), the New York Draft Riots, and the central revenge story.

Of course, the film's ultimate saving grace is Daniel Day-Lewis, who gives a theatrical, sledgehammer performance as the one eyed-monster, and his scene where he sits talking to Amsterdam with an American flag draped over his shoulders is worth a thousand Academy Awards alone. Among the wave of dodgy Oirish accents, DiCaprio's isn't that bad, pulling of a credible performance which would jump-start his close relationship with Scorsese in the years after. Amsterdam is no regular hero, he's just as violent as the next thug, and one of the most interesting aspects of the film is how Scorsese tends not to show any race or group in a particularly good light. This is America's dirty beginnings after all, and boy is it bloody - heads are bludgeoned, cheeks are torn from their face - it's probably Scorsese's most gruesome since Casino (1995).

Second time around, Gangs of New York did seem admittedly better paced and more fleshed out (I thought I might even be watching a director's cut), with the political goings-on and the various sub-plots making much more sense. But the film is still a mess, and it progresses with a taste for almost glamorising the violence. The opening scene depicting the bloody fight between the Butcher's natives and the Priest's Dead Rabbits comes with slow-motion and electric guitar music, and this punk-ish approach causes it to clash with its historical setting. However, it looks staggering. The costumes, the huge sets, and the dirt and grit, has an epic David Lean quality, almost old-fashioned in a way. Yet this is a very modern film, and perhaps a more classical approach may have benefited the film which is ultimately unfocused, but effortlessly thrilling.


Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, Cameron Diaz, Jim Broadbent, John C. Reilly, Henry Thomas, Liam Neeson, Brendan Gleeson
Country: USA/Italy

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #72: 'The Green Hornet' (2011)

Over the past year or so, prior to The Green Hornet's release, we have seen Seth Rogen decrease in size. No longer is he the loveable chubby loser from Knocked Up (2007) - he went on to play slim-to-chubby loser in Funny People (2009) - he is now slim Seth Rogen, Action Star! Okay, I think I'm going a bit overboard. He isn't exactly Chris Hemsworth in Thor (2011), but fair play to him, at least he's trying. Having just read back what I've just typed, it perhaps may come across that I hate Seth Rogen. I really don't, I'm usually the only one that defends him. I loved Knocked Up and Superbad (2007), and Pineapple Express (2008) was very amusing, even if he was overshadowed by James Franco. It's just a bit irritating that, even though he's seemingly pushing for different roles and showing the dedication to the cause by slimming down, in The Green Hornet, underneath it all, he's still the same slow-witted, gravelly-voiced nerd that he always plays.

Britt Reid is a playboy millionaire's son who spends his time throwing wild parties and showing girls around his father's car collection. He is haunted by a childhood memory in which his father (now publisher of newspaper The Daily Sentinel) James (Tom Wilkinson), believing him to be causing fights at school, tore the head off his favourite superhero toy, and he now believes that his father is ashamed and despises him. When James is killed by an allergic reaction to a wasp sting, Britt finds himself alone and befriends family mechanic and coffee-maker Kato (Jay Chou), and upon agreeing that they both hated Britt's father, get drunk and go to cut the head off a recently erected statue of him. Whilst there, they witness a mugging in which the two beat the crap out of the thugs (mainly Kato). Excited and liberated, Britt convinces Kato that the two should be crime-fighters.

So far, so amusing. The main problem with the film begins when it introduces the main bad guy Benjamin Chudnovsky (Christoph Waltz). Nicolas Cage had earlier been attached to play Chudnovsky, attracted to the fact that Michel Gondry was directing. But he pulled out, stating that he didn't want to play a one-dimensional bad-guy. And he was right. With every fully-fleshed superhero comes the need for an enticing bad guy. But he is a bland thug, slowly taking control of the city and the crystal-meth trade, without quoting a memorable line, having a memorable scene, or having a particular goal. It's a tragic waste of the talents of Waltz, who mesmerised everybody with his portrayal of The Jew Hunter in Inglourious Basterds (2009).

Where it triumphs, however, is when Britt and Kato are together. Chou and Rogen have plenty of chemistry, and Chou shows he has plenty of comedy chops. Rogen, although playing a very similar character to the one's  he's played before, still raises a smile as the clueless, child-like and naive Britt, stumbling through his crime-fighting while Kato does all the work. Only when the thinly-drawn Lenore Case (Cameron Diaz) arrives on the scene as a budding criminology graduate, the two takes an interest in her and are then ultimately pitted against each other. Apart from the obvious physical aspects, it's not really apparent why the two would take such an interest.

It's a very post-modern take on the superhero myth that seems to increasingly popular these days. Only it's been done a hell of a lot better in previous films. Watchmen (2009), based on a unbelievably good graphic novel by Alan Moore, was intelligent, exciting, multi-layered, and had fully realised characters. And last year's Kick-Ass (2010) was much funnier in the comedy department, and explored the vigilante angle much better. Plus it had Hit-Girl, which every film misses. The Green Hornet's only goal seems to be to entertain and amuse, which it quite often fails to do.

A worthy attempt, but with the high standards set by other more successful films, The Green Hornet gets somewhat lost in the pile. I don't know if a sequel is planned, or if the film made enough money for it to be greenlit, but if so I will be interested to watch where they go with it, and hope the most important aspect of the film is developed better - the story!


Directed by: Michel Gondry
Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diaz, Tom Wilkinson, Christoph Waltz, James Franco
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie