too Hollywood

Rating: 5/10 (14 February 2013)

Gangs of New York is a film that suffers from the typical Hollywood problems. Miscasting for one: Di Caprio and Diaz may have got more people through the gate, but they are completely unbelievable as characters who have suffered hard times and poverty. LDC in particular isn't authentic in the slightest as a vengeful, hand-to-mouth street criminal. There is also the mandatory romance storyline thrown in, that has no purpose other than ticking the box of what a blockbuster film must contain. The much-admired fight scene at the start is just your average mainstream slasher, more about the gore and violence than the characters. The movie is also too long for what it is.
Otherwise, they get some things right. It looks nice enough, evoking 1860s New York in an interesting and believable way. There is the occasional snatch of nice dialogue, or intense scene. Still, you can't shake the feeling that this is far too Hollywood: a story about hardship on the streets, told through a pampered, privileged cast with a mega budget.