Gangs of New York 2002

Reminds me of the scale, period sets, and wardrobe of Killers of the Flower Moon (2023). The deception, betrayals, and sudden brutality have the DNA of Goodfellas (1990). Then there is all that aggressive masculinity, men constantly trying to establish dominance over one another, plus Scorsese apparently finding another reason to include women’s nudity, which gave me The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) vibes. Love the Civil War era climax. It is so epic, and I think that is what the chaos of a country tearing itself apart would actually look and feel like. Daniel Day Lewis is always intense. And of course, Leo is Leo. I can absolutely appreciate the filmmaking, production design, performances, and scale. But emotionally, this one just is not for me. For a story built so heavily around revenge, the eventual payoff did not give me the satisfaction I was waiting for.