Some, maybe many, believe that Martin Scorsese’s 21st century output of films paled in comparison to his earlier stuff from ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.
It is indeed hard to believe that Scorsese has released anything during these past 20 years that could rival the youthful energy of “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “After Hours” “Goodfellas,” and “Casino.”
You could also probably make a very good case for Scorsese’s career rejuvenation, starting with 1999’s underrated “Bringing Out the Dead,” all the way to 2019’s “The Irishman.” A 20-year-run of good to excellent films. In the 21st century, there has been no “Kundun,” “Boxcar Bertha,” or “New York, New York” type of failure. If anything, his quality of films have been consistent.
In Scorsese now seems more than comfortable working within the confines of the studio system, even after the infamous creative fighting he had with Harvey Weinstein on “Gangs of New York.” For the most part, major studios now give Scorsese “final cut” and he’s taken advantage of his legendary name to shoot a handful of decade-long passion projects — “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “Shutter Island,” “Hugo,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Silence” and “The Irishman.”
Nine films. Of course, you won’t get a consensus on all of these actually being great films. The George Melies scenes in “Hugo” are brilliant, but its a fairly flawed film. I was also underwhelmed by “The Aviator” upon first viewing, but subsequent watches have made me realize how fascinating of a treatise on mental illness it was.
Scorsese’s 21st century output is, for the most part, well respected, but I occasionally run into the odd person (and they definitely exist) who believes thst Scorsese lost his touch after the ‘90s. These are absolute purists who bow down to the Church of Scorsese, from Mean Streets to Casino, but vehemently dislike his 21st century big studio phase. They don’t believe Scorsese can ever come close to making another masterpiece like “Raging Bull,” “Mean Streets,” “Goodfellas,” and “Taxi Driver.”
My own opinion? These past 20 years, Scorsese has released, at least, two stone-cold classics that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his very best films: “The Departed” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” These are two films that retain his auteur voice and encapsulate everything we love dear about the man; the excess, the violence, the stylized narrative etc.
I’ve attached a poll below. It’ll be interesting to the results. I have not included “Killers of the Flower Moon” since it’s been barely seen (but it’s great).
Of course, we all know the rule: take these reactions with a grain of salt rather than treating them as gospel. Still, I will say that the film tested like gangbusters earlier this year, and Lionsgate clearly has confidence.