“Gangs of New York” opens with a stirring sequence set in 1846 New York, with two rival gangs - the Dead Rabbits, led by Irish immigrant “Priest” Vallon (Liam Neeson), and the Natives, led by Bill the Butcher (Daniel Day-Lewis) - facing off in a street battle that leaves the snow stained in red, and Vallon murdered at the hand of the Butcher before the eyes of his young son. Sixteen years later, Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) has returned to the Five Points in Manhattan, where Bill and the Natives now run the show, with their intent to abolish the “foreign hordes”. Amsterdam returns to avenge his father, but in a twist of fate, finds himself being taken under Bill’s wing and discovers his father’s killer to be something more than just a heartless animal. Bill regards Priest as the only man he has killed “worth remembering” and honors his passing each year. Amsterdam also meets a pickpocket named Jenny (Cameron Diaz), and finds past members of the Dead Rabbits throughout the Five Points (including Brendan Gleeson and John C. Reilly).

Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus have created a film that is often dazzling to behold, a hugely ambitious and extremely bloody work of untold history. Although, at a typical Scorsese running length of 165 minutes, the film is overlong, there is always a point of interest for the observant viewer. The biggest selling point in “Gangs of New York” is the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis, who has been MIA for five years, and tears into the role of Bill the Butcher with startling zeal and tenacity, veering from congenial charm into madness with one of the most colorful characters of the year. DiCaprio, whom we also haven’t seen on-screen since “The Beach” in 2000, shows the conflict within Amsterdam quite well but never strikes the chord of a truly compelling protagonist. While Diaz is fine, her character is a bewilderment, and the supporting cast musters talent in even the tiniest of roles: from Gleeson and Reilly to Jim Broadbent as politician Bill Tweed, who works closely with Bill the Butcher to secure votes. In his short-lived appearance, the excellent Liam Neeson demonstrates his usual chops as Priest Vallon.

While there is just too much greatness in “Gangs of New York” to dismiss, Scorsese’s film succumbs to the indulgence of showy extravagance, while many of the historical details are rendered impotent and the dramatic elements fail to connect. “Gangs of New York” depicts a bleak chapter of American history that most of us are unfamiliar with, and does so with a resolve of great ambition. But the story Scorsese uses as the tentpole for his epic tale is all over the map in terms of tone and character. As a result, the film is visually striking and fascinating in its detail, but feels off-balance in the manner it handles its epic scope. Martin Scorsese is a great filmmaker, worthy of crafting incredible stories like “Raging Bull” and “Goodfellas”, and while “Gangs of New York” falls short of such notoriety, it is something rare from Hollywood: a dark story, full of brutality and hate, that served to forge a great nation.