Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Expected more

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Christopher Walken stars in this great, if a little uneven, crime film by controversial director Abel Ferrara (Driller Killer, Bad Lieutenant).It tells the story of Frank White, a crime lord who, after being released from prison, makes a violent campaign to reclaim his empire in order to use his ill-gotten gain for charitable means in this modern twist on the Robin Hood mythos. At the same time a core group of New York cops are all over him and his gang, determined to go to war, whatever the cost, to bring him down which leads to a violent climax.In a break from the usual cops and robber movie the line between crook and cop are a little blurry here. Sure Walken's character is a crook who kills people and then goes to parties laden with cocaine and sex, but he kills other scum bags and tries to use his new found freedom to do good things for charity. He's a character who is using his empire as a means to do what he feels is the right thing and raise a poor community up from its poor roots.The cops on the other hand believe that a crook, will forever be a crook. As David Caruso's (CSI: Miami joke here) character aptly puts, that the more people he kills the more it reflects badly on the cops whilst no matter what they do to stop Frank, he always gets away scot-free. I can definitely see the positives and negatives from both sides as they can be both as bad and both as justifiable in their actions. Really well thought out stuff when you think about it, and this was a film made 12 years before the Wire (which I've still got to finish watching).Though while I do say it's uneven I still hold to that. Some bits feel a little rushed in pacing and even the lawyer girlfriend to Frank White seems to vanish into thin air during the third act of the film.But despite being a low budget film, it is still a pretty good looking film with an impressive cast (including Lawrence Fishburn, Wesley Snipes and David Caruso) who play their parts really well. I did have a few niggling problems, mostly with the sound though that could attribute to the copy of the film I had. But the climax of this film is where it's really at as everything that has been building up to this comes to an exciting head.It's such a shame that this film has been so over looked, I mean I only really found out about it through Christopher Walken's film list. It deserves a lot more credit.

This is most likely Director Ferrara's most accessible Movie. Most of his Films are so quirky, offbeat, and personal with an Art-House/Grindhouse dichotomy that doesn't set to well with casual Movie goers. This one, and perhaps Bad Lieutenant (1992), are Crime Thrillers that call in the masses and give them enough style and grit to garner reluctant approval.But not everyone was entertained. Initially this was a dismissed and protested Movie called trashy, indulgent, and reprehensible. That's what made it the Cult Movie it is today. The over abundance of style and uncompromising, lurid appeal that has a staying power and is unforgettable.There is a metaphorically alluring Character in Frank White (is that name Black Enough For Ya) who is a pale-faced, monstrous, Vampyric Robin Hood as charming as the Devil himself. Like Jesus, he hangs with the dregs, in the bad part of town, but can be found at the Plaza Hotel planning his take down of the worst of the worst. Rival Gangs and crooked, selfish Politicians (Money Changers).This is a Great Neo-Noir that exudes an atmosphere of dark blueness. There is virtually no sunlight in this story of Under Worldliness and it has a nightmarish template of Violence, Decadence, and some Dark Philosophy delivered from a likable chilling Gangster.

How do I sum up this film? Badly written, badly directed, badly acted? All three? Certainly badly written and directed. I've read in various reviews that the writer took 5 years to write this screenplay and as a result hardly any improv was used on set. My advice would be to : (a) Never hire this writer again (but it looks like he works exclusively for Abel Ferrara anyway) (b) Maybe concentrate a bit more on the writing the next time or (C) Spend less time writing and allow improv - it might improve things.The main issue here is there seems no motivation for any of the characters - Walken is a bad guy, Caruso & Snipes are good guys - but we need a little more than that. They are so one dimensional that cardboard cutouts would have sufficed instead of the actors. Fishburne is so over the top it is comical and Buschemi has hardly any screen time. There's no build up to any of the character's motivations and as a result when we see things on screen there is no emotional involvement with the audience. Bottom line is the audience doesn't care who gets shot, killed or whatever.There is potential in 'King of New York' but in the end it fizzles out to nothing. Literally. The plot itself is simplistic in the extreme and embarrassingly step-by-step. No originality. It goes like this: Frank White (Walken) gets out of prison, takes dope, has parties, wants to dabble in a hospital project and kills all his enemies. The cops then call him King of New York. Then the cops get angry with Frank and decide to kill him themselves. Queue the shooting and more shooting and finally everybody's dead.The plot could have been written by a 5 year old - never mind take 5 years to write !!!! There is no hook here, no emotional depth, no involvement, no background - nothing. It does have Walken - and his almost obligatory dancing scene - but it just looks embarrassing instead of kooky.Poor effort - 3/10.

Watch free films, such as King of New York on streamuniverse.TV Find a direct link here: http://streamuniverse.TV/crime/videos/king-of-new-yorkVideos are streamed in HD high quality and are legal to watch - and all for FREEKING OF NEW YORK Mob boss Frank White is released from jail and decides to take over New York but to use his power and influence to help the city's poor. An all star cast including Christopher Walken, Wesley Snipes, Lawrence Fishburne, Steve Buscemi and David Caruso star in one of the grittiest urban dramas of the last 20 years.