Some, maybe many, believe that Martin Scorsese’s 21st-century film output pales compared to his earlier work from the ’70s, ’80s, and ’90s.
It’s admittedly hard to believe that Scorsese has released anything in the past 20 years that could rival the youthful energy of “Mean Streets” “Taxi Driver,” “Raging Bull,” and “Goodfellas.” Let alone something that could rival “After Hours,” or “Casino.”
Quentin Tarantino’s theory that a director’s quality of work could only get worse as he gets older comes into fruition here, but Scorsese has somewhat evaded that in the 21st century, making personal and vital films that, some of which, and although lacking the immediacy of his youthful days, have somehow managed to hit the cultural zeitgeist.
You could easily make a strong case for Scorsese’s career rejuvenation beginning with 1999’s underrated “Bringing Out the Dead” and continuing through to 2023’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” That’s a 25-year run of good to excellent films. In the 21st century, there hasn’t been a “Kundun,” “Boxcar Bertha,” or “New York, New York” type of misfire. If anything, the quality of his work has remained consistent.
Scorsese now seems more than comfortable working within the confines of the studio system, even after the infamous creative clashes he had with Harvey Weinstein on “Gangs of New York” — we’re still waiting on the definitive cut to be released. For the most part, major studios now grant Scorsese “final cut” and he’s used his legendary status to bring a number of epic projects to life — “Gangs of New York,” “The Aviator,” “The Departed,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Silence,” and “The Irishman.”
In the last 25 years, Scorsese has released nine films. Of course, not everyone will agree that all of them are great. The Georges Méliès scenes in “Hugo” are brilliant, but the film itself is fairly flawed. I was also underwhelmed by “The Aviator” on first viewing, but a rewatch made me appreciate it more as this fascinating treatise on mental illness.
Scorsese’s 21st-century work is, for the most part, well respected, but I still occasionally meet people (and they definitely exist) who believe he lost his touch after the ’90s. These are purists who worship at the Church of Scorsese, from “Mean Streets” to “Casino,” but strongly dislike his big studio 21st-century era. They don’t believe he’s ever come close to making another “Goodfellas,” or “Taxi Driver.”
My own opinion? In the past 25 years, Scorsese has delivered at least two stone-cold classics: “The Departed” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” These are films that retained his voice and embody everything we hold dear about him — the excess, the violence, the stylized narrative, and more.
In 2023, right before the release for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” I polled 130+ critics and asked them to name Scorsese’s best films, and only one title from 2000 on made the top 10 (“The Departed”). I’ve now filtered out the results from that poll to only include his 21st-century output:
1) “The Departed” (16 votes)
2) “The Wolf of Wall Street” (11)
3) “Silence” (10)
4) “The Irishman” (9)
5) “Hugo” (9)
6) “Shutter Island” (3)
7) “Gangs of New York” (2)
8) “The Aviator” (1)