Gangs Of New York

Year: 2002
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Daniel Day Lewis, Leonardo DiCaprio, Cameron Diaz

Synopsis:

A young man, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns to New York in 1863 to avenge the death of his father, killed 17 years earlier by Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (Daniel Day Lewis) in a violent gang war.

Review:

This is a great movie. It portrays the political corruption, and the violence of the gang wars, between the Irish gangs, and the native gangs of the time. Very little of this movie is wasted, with almost every scene either advancing the plot or developing the main characters. My one complaint would be that the final showdown between Amsterdam and The Butcher seems anticlimactic. This scene gets lost among the draft riots, and the military being called in to quell the violence. If you can handle the violence and the blood, then I would recommend seeing this one.

My Rating:
8/10