Good morality epic without being a masterpiece

Rating: 7/10 (14 December 2019)

Had been looking forward to this for years. Glad to see these phenomenal actors reunited with Scorsese in an epic film - the second longest I've ever seen (only behind Ben Hur).
The length and CGI are often the two most talked about aspects of this. I thought the CGI de-aging worked well and didn't find it distracting. Only some of De Niro's movements when 'younger' didn't fit so well. The runtime, however, did feel too long. Not every scene was a classic, and I found my attention fading occasionally.
The best part was simply seeing these actors working together and they all delivered convincing performances. Joe Pesci definitely still has it, while Al Pacino hits it out of the park, with what is the best performance in the whole film. The political, union aspects of Pacino's character (Hoffa) were often some of the more tedious, mundane though.
This often didn't feel like a gangster film. It becomes a lot more than that towards the very end. It turned into a strong morality tale, about life and death, sins, living a good life etc. I found "The Shootist" touch really powerful. The last 30 minutes were the strongest of the film. Other scene highlights were "the fish car" and simply just seeing De Niro and Pacino share a hug at this stage of their careers.
I have to admit though, I most enjoyed The Irishman when someone was being whacked. For a film about a hitman these instances seemed few and far between. For much of the film I felt quite emotionless. Neither loving it, or hating it, simply just feeling like a bystander to the story and events. This lack of emotions could perhaps be attributed to the emotionless disposition displayed by some of the main characters - most notably De Niro's Frank Sheeran.
The final scene is the type of cinematic experience that gets you talking among friends in the days after. Overall, I found The Irishman good, without being the masterpiece many are claiming it to be. It would make a good film to watch on any long haul flight.
Props to Netflix for getting behind such a project. I hope its not the last of its type they support!