Disappointing

Rating: Null/10 (16 February 2003)

Multiple nominations from the academy. Star names. A superb director. Gangs of New York a triumph? Certainly not!
What begins as an insightful study into the late 1800s New York-style degenerates into a second-rate love story about two people the audience doesn't really care about. There are interesting characters (Bill The Butcher played by Daniel Day-Lewis is not justs one of these, but the best thing in the movie in terms of character and acting), fantastic sets and wonderful costumes but little else.
Scorsese's direction is sporadically brilliant, but only sporadically. The different styles he uses in the film come across as messy rather than varied. This can also describe the soundtrack which begins as "nu-classical" and degenerates into melodramatic. The second half of the movie is also a casue for concern, as it seems to make little sense due to bad continuity, leaden editing and (one suspects) heavy cutting of crucial scenes.
As for the violence- it ends up bouncing right off you. This is due to the very poor editing (which also spoils the rest of the film) making the fight sequences dull and unmoving instead of powerful and masterful, like in Raging Bull or even Ridley Scott's Gladiator.
All this isn't to say that is a bad film, because it is not. At times it can be brilliant (especially scenes with Daniel Day-Lewis and John C. Reilly- like the hints of corruption at the beginning of the movie) but overall its very inconsistent and doesn't connect with you emotionally. As grand as it is, Gangs of New York, left me cold.