Movie Review : King of New York (1990)
Gangster movies have become a somewhat of a Freudian rite of passage for young men. Every growing boy need to frantically go through them until they figure out their own stance on the über-masculinity and the violence displayed in these audiovisual tales of crime. I was a late bloomer to that experience, like for many other thing in my life. I didn't see THE GODFATHER trilogy until I was 18, 23 for SCARFACE and I hadn't watched KING OF NEW YORK until last weekend. It's not a movie that introduces itself very well. If it wasn't wearing Abel Ferrara's signature of violent mayhem, I probably would've skipped it. Speaking of violent mayhem might be underselling KING OF NEW YORK though, so that's why it's awesome in a crass and immature way.
Frank White (Christopher Walken) is a psychopathic drug lord who just got released from prison. He's also absurdly self-aware, and wants to make up for all these years he lost rolling his thumbs behind bars. So what does Frank White do? He announced his big comeback with trumpets, shotguns and foot soldiers, by gunning down every other drug dealer and organized crime figures in town. But what nobody seems to get about the triumphant return of New York's most bloodthirsty mobster is that he's got the greater picture in mind. Frank White wants to use his talents to benefit his city and gather money to pay for hospitals and infrastructures, which seems to piss off the local cops way passed the breaking point of their rationality.
Apparently, KING OF NEW YORK is an urban retelling of Robin Hood, except that it only bears a vague conceptual resemblance with the folktale. It's not a subtle movie. The characters aren't refined or complicated. In fact, the best thing KING OF NEW YORK has for itself are the spectacular action scenes that include: some poor devil getting his face rammed into a fire hydrant, a low-budget shootout in Chinatown where both gangs just stand in the street and mow each other down with automatic weapons and, last but not least, an epic gunfight/discussion about thugs' food preference under an overpass. KING OF NEW YORK is no achievement in screenwriting, but the savage vision of director Abel Ferrara transforms what would be run-of-the-mill scenes and details into unique and memorable moments.
It's that kind of random surprise that makes it worth your while. KING OF NEW YORK wouldn't be as flavourful as it was without its cops though. Screenwriter Nicholas St-John has written the nastiest, more deviant and bloodthirsty cops south of James Ellroy novels, and you guys know how crazy I am about the author of the L.A Quartet. The character played by David Caruso and Wesley Snipes (I never really bothered learning their names) have no respect for human lives and will barge into the frame of every scene like a pack of hungry wolves, looking to paint the town with the blood of their enemies. Seriously, they are the angriest bunch of coppers in the history of cinema. They are devoured by the feeling of injustice because Frank Whitegets to help people by killing gangsters, which I believe they thought was their job in the first place. If you ever need inspiration for out of control cops, KING OF NEW YORK should be the first thing you turn to.
If you're still not sure of what KING OF NEW YORK is like, think of it as SCARFACE's mannerless little cousin, and NEW JACK CITY's older, more tormented brother. It's a movie that completely lacks inhibition, yet that found a way to forge its own style from it? I don't know if it makes sense, but what I mean is that you'll need an open mind and a sharp sense of humor to appreciate the absolute wackiness of KING OF NEW YORK. I could also describe it to you as CARLITO'S WAY with a looney tunes logic. It's by far not a feat in screenwriting, but it's boyish and crass and it does a lot with very little. The biggest star of KING OF NEW YORK would be without a doubt director Abel Ferrara, who's brash visual style helped the movie attain cult status. It's worth sitting through at least once, I believe.
