A gangster film with a great cast and all the modern violence, sex, drug trade and bad language you'd expect. This one, however, is made in the style of the Thirties: straight, with no sideline issues, as one man shoots his way to the top, gunning down all those who stand in the way of his becoming crime tsar of the city. Christopher Walken's icy and unsettling charm is well suited to this role, a criminal mastermind with dangerous double standards. He wants to be a do-gooder and build schools and hospitals: to do it he must gain control of all the city's illegal activity. Cops are reduced to vigilante action in efforts to stop him. Whether he needs to go as far as he does is open to question: so is the ease with which he and a few confederates with tommy-guns take over the city. The story, however, is deliberately streamlined to eliminate all side issues, and stylized so that everybody in it is dressed in black. Quite impressive, but also vaguely pretentious. Something a little different though for fans of Godfather-style drama. Sensational supporting cast includes David Caruso, Laurence Fishburne, Wesley Snipes and Steve Buscemi.

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