"The Sopranos" is one of the most beloved television shows of all time, thanks to a brilliant cast and narrative pacing about Tony Soprano and his life in two worlds: family and crime. So when a prequel film was announced that will dive back to Tony as a youth played by the son of the actor that brought Tony to life in the small-screen, fans were excited. While I have only watched a few episodes of the show, I can see the appeal and prestige that it carries, something that this film is not going to offer as time moves by. I will try to describe the story as much as possible, but it's pretty messy when watching the movie. To put it in summary, it's about Tony's uncle, Dickie Moltisanti, a soldier in the DiMeo crime family who has a "special bond" with a young Tony. The story chronicles the fall of Dickie from the murder of his father, his affair with his father's young Italian wife, and the rising conflict from an all-black gang from a former associate, Harold McBreyer, during the aftermath of the 1967 Newark riots. From the summary alone, you can tell that a lot is happening, almost as if an entire season of the show is squashed into two hours. The worst thing about all of this is that the film has absolutely no focus on anything. Dickie's bond with Tony is supposed to be the most important and impactful for the franchise, considering that he "made" Tony, but their chemistry and time together is very much fast-forwarded. Dickie's affair is never caught by his wife, who practically disappears from the film upon the affair occurring, and the chemistry between him and his mistress, along with her interest in Harold, is just sloppy. As for the gang war between Dickie and Harold, it goes unresolved since Dickie is killed by the end in an unrelated incident while Harold just kinds of stands around. It's clear that the filmmakers are hoping that this film can spawn multiple prequel films that continues the narrative of Tony and Harold, but considering the abysmal box office returns, it's not likely to happen. It doesn't help that the editing by Christopher Tellefsen is choppy at times as context is missing or entire sequences such as the arrest during the fair feel like they come out of nowhere due to a lack of set-up. I will say though that the film does at least get the tone right in regards to feeling like a Sopranos story with a very dark tone and black comedy thrown in a bit here and there.
Despite the marketing pushing the idea that Tony is the protagonist, Dickie acts as the central character of the film and the narrative suffers because of it. Alessandro Nivola does a fine job and all, but he's not a likeable character by design for people to get invested in. Perhaps if the film focused primarily on Dickie and Tony's relationship, this could be salvaged, but as I mentioned earlier, it barely does. Michela De Rossi as Giuseppina Moltisanti is fantastic in being the beautiful, naive mistress of Dickie, but her character doesn't really amount to much as she gets killed by Dickie after an affair with Harold that went nowhere in the grand scheme of things. Maybe if the film focused on her deception and lust to try to get both men to give her what she wants, that could be interesting, but it never does that. Leslie Odom Jr. as Harold, a black crime-lord that wants to take over Newark after being inspired by the 1967 riots, is excellent as always and probably plays the most engaging newcomer in the film, but his role and likability in the film is constantly in flux. His cause seems strong, even though he has done some bad stuff while working for Dickie. His affair with Giuseppina doesn't get called out by his wife or amount to anything as he doesn't help Giuseppina with her beauty parlor anyway. And while it seems like the gang war will end up with him or Dickie dead, he manages to stick around and seems like he's just a set-up for a sequel. So, the newcomers are pretty much of a waste, so what about Tony and the other members of the family? While there are too many to list, I will just say that everyone of the Soprano members are fantastically depicted and portrayed by the new cast with Micheal Gandolfini stealing the show by capturing the look and personality of a young Tony Soprano that only his late father could have pulled off. While this is great on the side cast's part, it begs the question: Why wasn't Tony the central protagonist at all in this film? No matter how good their performances are, it doesn't change how unlikeable or underdeveloped the central characters are.
Alan Taylor has gotten a lot of flack for his work on "Thor: The Dark World" and "Terminator: Genisys," but the one thing that you can't deny is that he at least knows how to make a competent film. The 60's and 70's culture and style were greatly reconstructed to feel like the era was reborn. Taylor himself manages to make the film feel like it can be reasonably spawned from the time period it takes place in, going so down as to the look of the film. While some can argue that the film is too grey or dull-looking, it sort of fits the tone and feel of the film while showing how Newark isn't exactly a glossy place to live. The cinematography by Kramer Morgenthau is great, considering his work with Taylor on "Terminator: Genisys" and "Game of Thrones." There's a lot of great panning and wide shots used throughout the film and Morgenthau injects some nice style and staging of shots to put some more personality. The score by Peter Nashel is completely absent. I swear that I recalled absolutely nothing in regards to an original piece of music used in the film. There is a decent licensed soundtrack that uses songs from the time period such as Jackson 5's "ABC" and other recognizable beats including the iconic song from the show's intro. Lastly, there's the effects and action, which is used sparingly throughout the film. The practical make-up and kills are great with the highlight being a nasty display of removing a man's teeth. The only digital effect I recall being in the film is when Dickie sets his father on fire and it's so fake-looking that it bothers me. Like, they really couldn't burn a fake body or dummy to get a more convincing display? And while this is no action film, the riot sequence and the shootout between Dickie and Harold is pretty intense. So, the directing by Taylor is actually pretty good, but it's just a shame he constantly picks out sub-par projects to make.
"The Many Saints of Newark" is sadly one of the more disappointing films of the year. While the tone captures the feel of the show, the supporting cast being especially strong in their portrayals of the Soprano family with Gandolfini's performance as Tony being outstanding, the camerawork by Morgenthau is slick and pleasing to look at, the soundtrack is solid, the practical make-up and brief action moments are great, and the directing by Taylor manages to capture the time period the story is set in with a grey colour scheme that fits the aesthetic of the tone and series, these things can't really save the film to make it an appropriate piece in the franchise. From a sloppy narrative that has too many things happening and not enough impactful things happening, the need to set-up future films while barely creating a story for this film, the focus on Dickie, Giuseppina, and Harold as central characters rather than Tony proves to be a heavy issue in regards to being attached to them or even basic development or arcs, the score by Nashel is not even present in the film, and the editing by Tellefsen is so choppy in cutting out entire sequences or scenes that harms the story and characters even more than they already do. Perhaps if I actually did watch the entire series, I could enjoy the film a bit more in regards to easter eggs or appreciating the performances of the established cast, but that's not really a big boost to the film's quality. For fans, it's a mildly intriguing piece that expands a bit of the characters and world, but for people who barely or know nothing about "The Sopranos", this comes across as a mediocre and clumsy mafia movie that doesn't know its true potential.
Verdict: 5/10. A painfully average mobster movie that acts as a disgrace to the legendary franchise it was spawned from. Don't bother going to the theatres for this one and just wait until it hits streaming.
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