Worth your while

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2006)

"Gangs of New York" goes back to 1863 where New York was tough, gangs roamed the streets and you had to pay due to the right person. Okay, maybe that description doesn't sound too different form the New York of today, but it is very different.
The Natives and the Dead Rabbits are two of the gangs. Each fearsome and have good fighters and thinkers on their side. The Dead Rabbits are led by a Priest by the name of Vallon, his son is Amsterdam (older version is played by Leonardo DiCaprio). Dead Rabbits is composed mainly of Irish immigrants. The Natives have Bill 'The Butcher' Cutting as their leader (Daniel Day-Lewis), who despises immigrants, most specifically, the Irish. The two gangs meet and fight over the Five Points, a territory in New York that had yet to be claimed.
The opening battle scene starts out lamely, Vallon has brought his ten-year old son to the battle grounds so he could possibly see history in the making. Unfortunately, all he gets to see is poorly choreographed combat, unworthy to be seen on a low-budget stage company production. As the battle continues, it picks up into a bloody and well