The Many Saints of Newark (2021)

Honestly you won't understand this masterpiece witnessed unless you love sopranos. This is a universe where the deep depths are unimaginable and we will always be chasing more . Chase give us more!!!

Fmovies: There's a lot to like here but ultimately it feels like episode one of a ten part series. Ever so slightly unsatisfying.

Let me start off this review by saying I'm a big fan of The Sopranos, it is easily one of my most rewatched shows of all time!

So when I first heard they were making a prequel I was a little skeptical. Even with David Chase on board I was nervous that this film could potentially tarnish the series legacy.

However once the first trailer dropped, seeing Dickie Moltisanti running his crew, Micheal Gandolfini stepping into his fathers shoes and hearing that iconic theme song all my fears disappeared!

Once I see the actual film though it was not entirely what I expected, and that is not necessarily a good or bad point.

Let me start off with some of things I loved; The casting in this film is outstanding, not only do all the actors manage to capture the younger versions of themselves so well, they convey everything down to their mannerisms with ease ( Young Tony being expertly played by James' son Micheal is a real emotional highlight).

This film also contains much of the witty dialogue and dark humour the show was known for, this especially being the case whenever we see the young Silvio, Paulie and Pussy.

Finally if you are a sopranos fan, there is plenty of references to enjoy and a few secrets revealed that will most definitely surprise. The film also gives more insight into why characters are the way they are in the show, and just put a massive smile seeing these characters we know so well given more backstory.

This is where I start going into the possible negatives of the film however; I do feel that if you are not a soprano fan / or never seen the show, you will not get as much out of this as a fan would. It is a good crime / gangster film, but most definitely made better if you know of the characters and history prior.

My other main 'complaint' is the pacing / length of the film. At times certain story beats feel quite rushed especially after an extended first act laying the foundation for the rest of the film. To be honest I just wanted more, especially by the time the credits roll ( which I suppose isn't a bad thing).

It must of been quite hard by David Chase to adapt from a 13 hour season to a two hour movie, however both he and Alan Taylor have done a great job with the runtime.

All in all I really enjoyed The Many Saints of Newark, if anything I just want to see more of this era in the Sopranos universe, which in turn completely squashed my worries from the beginning!

Here's hoping this isn't the end of Tony's Saga!

The Many Saints of Newark fmovies. "THE MANY SAINTS OF NEWARK".

Prepare to be mostly disappointed sadly.

Some nice nods to the show (inc a fun reconstruction of a story Tony tells Melfi, & a redo of a young Tony memory), younger Sil is great & spot on, especially his walk (& yes...we learn a secret), younger Pussy & Paulie are wasted (& Paulie isn't much like Paulie), younger Livia is pretty accurate (with shades of Carmela at times, maybe intentional), younger Junior is pretty good (with a wonderful expletive nod to the show).

Ray Liotta is good, but he's used VERY strangely & a (weirdly forced) surprise about him was totally ruined by the trailer!

Dickie is okay, good at times, but mostly unlikeable & unappealing as a character. And yes, we learn the truth about Dickie's fate... Now the real disappointments;

There was little point in the 60's stuff being so long, bar 1 big event, the Race Riots were too long & (that 1 big event aside again) totally pointless (we pandering here?).

Michael Gandolfini is sadly poor. He can't really act, lacks charisma & his speech is weird & slurred.

There's very little sign of Tony Soprano in his performance & there's not even any real arc for the character (there's a nice Melfi foreshadowing involving a Guidance Councillor though).

Johnny Boy is sidelined & does very little.

Janice is wasted too.

And it all lacks focus, drive & energy. And simply isn't that entertaining.

The biggest problem though is a massive chunk of the film is spent on Harold, an up & coming Black Gangster who means zero to the audience. We're here to see the World & characters of "The Sopranos", this ain't it.

Why is an entire sequence spent on Black Power beat-poetry? What's with the final credits scene?

Are BLM a big part of "The Sopranos" audience?

We want "The Sopranos", this ain't it.

So overall...A letdown.

Good moments (some nice if brief action/violence too), a few nice backstory reveals, & character moments. But so much wasted time & potential. Most of those backstory moments we were hoping for...just aren't here.

I sure wish that time had been spent on, you know, things to actually do with "The Sopranos"!

Harold is easily the second lead character.

Find me one fan who heard about this film and was hoping the 2nd lead was a non-Mafia, non-Italian, NON-"SOPRANOS", Black Gangster character who gets a good 3rd of the running time devoted to his backstory & rise to power (& Black Radical Beat-Poetry!) You'll find not a single one.

But most won't have the guts to call foul.

I don't usually write reviews but ... After 2 hours , i left wanting more of it . I really loved the movie which I think people misunderstood that it was all about young Tony when it's really about his mentor Dickie , Chris's father from whom Tony got his strong troubled character . Directing and writing were both perfect , acting was great especially by Alessandro Nivola who presented the best performance this year . It's a ten for me , others might give it nine or night but less than that is really unfair .

14 years since i was waiting for this to happen and it didn't disappoint. Worth watching if you love sopranos.