Abel Ferrara may be the most underrated director on the planet, and his 1990 movie, "King of New York", is ample evidence of this fact. He might be more well known for the video nasty "Driller Killer", starring himself; or crime drama "Bad Lieutenant", starring Harvey Keitel's penis; but he should also be commended for often schlocky and exploitative efforts such as rape-revenge movie "Ms. 45", kung-fu serial killer movie "Fear City" (yes, that's what I said, kung-fu serial killer), and unjustly underrated sci-fi horror flick "Body Snatchers". Beyond all that, "King of New York" represents both Ferrara and long-time collaborator and screenwriter Nicholas St. John at their apex.
At its core "King of New York" is basically a B gangster flick, and some may even mistake it for a low rent version of "Scarface". But fuck that, because having watched it again after years of not seeing it and stupidly watching nonsense like "The Snowman", "King of New York" might be up there as one of my favourite movies. If you don't like this movie then you quite literally have no balls. You were born without genitals.
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| Or merely lost them. |
The film stars Christopher Walken as Frank White; a drug lord who has recently been released from prison having been jailed presumably for being a suspected reptilian. And as can be expected it isn't two seconds after crossing the prison gate threshold that people start dying. The movie throws you straight into the action as Frank White's henchmen on the outside start killing off the competition one by one; and as the film goes on, the rivers of blood get so thick and copious that New York City Council begins talks to invest in a giant tax-payer funded street tampon to steady the flow.
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| You ever feel... you know... not so fresh? |
As soon as Frank is free he begins talks with other drug lords, pimps and drug pimps to engage in some free trade agreements under the presumed intention of funding some inner city children's hospitals. Naturally when they turn him down they find that they have unintentionally purchased themselves first class tickets on the express train to Hell.
Whilst some gangster flicks revel a little too much in torture or internal gangland politics, "King of New York" presents the audience with quick and wrenching moments of violence that characterize Frank White as a man of ruthless efficiency with little taste for sadism and a sweet tooth for being the man at the top. Some scenes in this movie honestly resemble a "Grand Theft Auto" playthrough and that is by no means a criticism, as Ferrara's almost fly-on-the-wall style of direction (similar to his later effort "Bad Lieutenant") lends a certain level of realism to the events.
Of course what gangster movie wouldn't be complete without its law enforcement element? David Caruso, Wesley Snipes and Victor Argo take up Frank White's opposition on the other side of the law. Dennis Gilley, played by Caruso, displays a volatile character, almost as morally questionable as the people he hunts down, and whose actions lead to not only his own downfall but that of his close friends on the force.
Just about every scene in this film has some memorable element to it. From an opening scene where a rival drug lord makes his way through his palatial home with scantily clad hookers strewn about like crisp packets, only to be gunned down in a phone booth just outside; to an otherwise standard street gun battle that's made eminently more notable with the addition of a gorgeous black woman in a leather jacket and gangster hat careening around the corner in a black car, sticking out of the sun roof and annihilating anything that moves with a machine gun (what did I say about this basically being a GTA movie?). If the film indeed has one flaw it's that its plot moves so quickly that at times some of the scenes be blurry; but this only results in many of the key scenes - such as the night club shooting scene in which Laurence Fishburne dual wields pistols - becoming all the more memorable and almost iconic.
Again, unlike Ferrara's later and perhaps more well known effort, "Bad Lieutenant", "King of New York" doesn't attempt to throw any kind of moral at you. The closest it comes is in a scene towards the end, and whilst Bad Lieutenant's moral seemed confusing at best and ass-backwards at worst, King of New York condenses it into a single line.
"I spent half my life in prison, I never got away with anything and I never killed anybody who didn't deserve it."
Similar to Tony Montana:
"I never fucked anyone over in my life didn't have it coming to them."
Less a moral than a justification for what Frank White does. And to be fair, it seems born out by what you see in the movie. Frank only seems to kill people he has a personal or moral disapproval of and most of them are other gangsters who engage in practices such as human trafficking and child prostitution. In fact the only arguably innocent guy who Frank kills in the film is Roy Bishop (played by Victor Argo) a police officer. It's only at that point where we see Frank face the consequences of his actions, as he sits in the back of a taxi with a gunshot wound in his stomach and the police slowly closing in on him.
Is it as dramatic as "Scarface"? No, not really. I mean you can't get much more dramatic than a coked up Cuban murdering scores of gunmen with a grenade launching M16 machine gun, so really the comparison is a tad unfair. But King of New York is not Scarface and it's not trying to be. Whilst Tony Montana meets his maker as a result of actually doing a good thing for once in his life, Frank White's fast paced and debauched lifestyle simply catches up to him. In a way his character and that of David Caruso's follow a very similar path. His own hubris consumes those around him and ultimately leads to his own demise.
But fuck the analyzing, because even without any subtext or messaging, King of New York is a film fit for a King.
Overall Quality Rating - 5/5
I love this movie and it's without a doubt one of my favourites. It's visually arresting, its characters are fun to watch despite not being entirely sympathetic, and it's just generally filled wth guns, tits and Christopher Walken looking like he wants to eat you like the lizard person that he is.
Idiot Rating - 2/5
There are some fun moments such as the first shootout scene where one of Frank's men bursts in yelling "Room Service, motherfucker!" Another notable moment is a scene where Wesley Snipes tries to coax Laurence Fishburne out of hiding during a gun fight by offering him fried chicken. But this is no idiot film. The fun moments are entirely intentional and genuinely funny. Recommended without reservation.
I'm DeadEye, and Christopher Walken smiles at you while you sleep.
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