I Have Now Been Exposed to the Genius That Is Day-Lewis

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2006)

Let me say this film was fantastic and a marvel to behold. The only reason I have given it a 9 instead of a 10 is because I always feel there is room for improvement no matter how great a film (in this case, perhaps the director's cut would warrant a 10). I was also a bit displeased that U2 was involved with the music, but I cannot honestly say the music was bad.
Coming in around three hours, and taking up two discs, some people would consider this movie a bit on the long side. Me? I would gladly have sat through another hour of this epic masterpiece. I have watched it twice now (that's six hours) and wouldn't mind a third time in the future. The storytelling is crisp, fresh and bold -- the characters believable, three-dimensional and asking for our empathy. As much as I wanted to hate The Butcher and root for young Amsterdam, I couldn't help but feel I knew exactly where the villain was coming from. In his own way, he is the American hero he makes himself out to be.
The story starts off with you thinking the plot is a simple tale of a son avenging his father's death. But this is only one plot line. It's a story of immigration, politics, the Civil War and of loyalty and honor. Such historical figures as P. T. Barnum and Horace Greeley grace the screen to give the film a wider context which it willingly and eagerly accepts.
The battle scenes are some of the best you'll ever see with great carnage and some vibrant and imaginative costumes. The costumes in general are amazing with their unique styles that could only have worked in this film. If you don't like blood, this might not be the movie for you, but is tame in comparison to many other choices out there and less violent than many war films.
I am not very familiar with director Martin Scorsese's work, but based on this film and "Goodfellas" I would say that he could easily be considered one of the best directors of our time (many people surely already think of him in this way). "The Departed" really clinched this belief for me. While Scorsese received the Oscar for "Departed", I think he really earned it during "Gangs of New York". But, better late than never.
DiCaprio delivers his strongest performance ever in this movie, or at least up to this point in his career (which is saying a lot coming from a fan) and Daniel Day-Lewis shows us he is the very definition of what a perfect method actor should be. I believed he really was Bill the Butcher and I think at times he believed it, too. No other character from film stands out in my mind as being as memorable as he. Even Cameron Diaz, whom I extremely dislike, put on a dazzling display. My only complaint about her in this film is that she is Cameron Diaz, but I guess she has little control over that.
The sets? Awesome. Who needs crappy computer imagery when you have sets like these? I could go on and on for pages at a time about this movie, but I think you understand where I am going: completely perfect film.