Brutal, Bloody and Brilliant

Rating: 9/10 (25 July 2004)

From the very opening, you know how violent "Gangs of New York" is going to be. The brief appearance of Liam Neeson as Priest is absolutely brilliant and the tone of the movie is set then. Everyone knows just what a great actor Daniel Day Lewis is, and he does not let himself down in this one - as the Butcher he is Evil personified, and the surprise to me was the maturity of Leonardo de Caprio as Amsterdam, in such an unusual role for him - he was brilliant and proved he is not the light weight actor that I had previously rated him. Cameron Diaz was fine, as was the supporting cast. It is definitely not a movie for everyone as the brutality dominates nearly every scene, but if this bears any resemblance to New York in the 1840's and earlier, then we should all have learned about it.