The Many Saints Of Newark: A Pointless Prequel

[SPOILERS: The Many Saints Of Newark, The Sopranos]
My review/analysis. Wasn't easy to make 😥
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[00:00] - Intro/Shoutouts
[00:23] - Main Plot Review/Analysis
[09:40] - Smaller Gripes
[11:13] - On The Fate Of Dickie Moltisanti
[15:20] - Partial Praise
[16:36] - Final Thoughts
[17:27] - Outro/Patrons
VIDEO:
Interview w/ David Chase: • Extended Interview Wit...
MUSIC:
"Woke Up This Morning" by Alabama 3

[@knoelle1357]

Frankly, I’m depressed and ashamed.

[@TericT]

Hi depressed and ashamed, I'm Dad :)

[@jackmolloy6107]

Albert Barese: Frankly you’re depressed and ashamed

[@greg6898]

Sil break it down for em

[@adamweisshaup]

@@greg6898 certain aspects of show business and prequel movies.

[@cicolasnage5684]

This movies coach turned into a pumpkin

[@kingmob2716]

Thing I hated most of all is Sil and Pussy being decades older than Tony when in the show they make it painstakingly clear they grew up together. I'm starting think David Chase had a ghostwriter all those years ago.

[@Hugo_Tate]

Def

[@Twxst616]

I think a large part of it was Chase admitting not watching the sopranos again before he wrote the film

[@howardmctroy3303]

Pussy and Paulie were about the right age, young soldiers in their 20s to 30s. And I thought the actors they got were fine. But Silvio is like fucking 40 in this. He's supposed to be around the same age as Tony and Jackie Aprile! I was sitting in the theater thinking to myself "That's Silvio's dad...Right?"

[@peterlfc1387]

They weren’t decades. About 6-7 years older. The problem was Paulie wasn’t used enough and Silvio was way too ott.

[@jd7634]

As A Sopranos Fan, the amount of in-your-face fan service in this movie was beyond fucking insulting. And the character like Paulie, Sil, Pussy, and especially Junior, felt more like SNL parodies rather than 3 dimensional characters.

[@winstonmarlowe5254]

Sil was never a three dimensional character lol

[@jlobiafra]

Well that's like your opinion man

[@KarimJovian]

You never had the makings of a varsity movie goer

[@drewfleming5584]

Joon and Syl really stuck out. But I thought Farmiga did a nice job using the original/elderly Livia as an influence but not taking it too far.

[@Sunday_fits]

@@KarimJovian nooo way, what are you doing here

[@bzenga5981]

I'll tell you one thing and I'm not afraid to say it: my estimation of David Chase as a man has fucking plummeted

[@rymon8460]

We waited 15 fucking yearssss...

[@bzenga5981]

@@rymon8460 15 fuckin years, not a peep from us fans; this is what we get for compromise?

[@abrahamicreligionsbowbefor3585]

yeah.

[@danieljohnston2379]

I don't think he's too fussed.

[@alexmuenster2102]

Come on! Cut the guy (Chase) some slack, willya? When it comes to prequels, all bets are off!

[@jjstraka1982]

Michael Gandolfini and Vera Farmiga were the best part of the movie. 2 hours focused on their relationship would have been infinitely better than spending two hours telling us Christopher's father was a piece of shit with a bunch of Easter eggs and in-jokes.

[@Tiabliaj1989]

You know what, I didn't know I needed to see this movie but I do. And I agree, it 100% wouldn't beat the snot out of what we got from Many Saints.

[@wephilips6651]

The best scene was the one when Livia makes Tony a burger and they chat. Only scene that felt genuine and in keeping with the sopranos

[@drewfleming5584]

Couldn't agree more.

[@smokemidigofoolish5797]

@@wephilips6651 he was great the whole movie but that scene was perfect

[@paulcarpenter7844]

Jon Bernthal's a great actor but this just definitely was not for him

[@zombieterminator6296]

Better call Saul is the only show that does a prequel right in my opinion

[@BlazingOwnager]

Literally the only time I've ever liked a prequel.

[@theWn123]

Better Call Saul and Red Dead Redemption 2 (the video game) are the only prequels to ever absolutely nail it. Every prequel should look to those examples.

[@reVo1t]

Wanted to say that too, can't wait for season 6 coming out next year

[@kenthefele113]

BCS is more than just a prequel.

[@trz6952]

it's fucking boring

[@Tony-gy1iy]

They should have made this into a 10 episode mini-series! There are way too many characters, events, and storylines to properly cover in a 2-hour movie. Everything felt like a jumbled-up mess that was rushed out. I get that DC originally wanted the Sopranos to be a movie, but this story just works better in TV form. I enjoyed the film as fan service but there was a lot of missed potential here. I did enjoy the performances given by the cast, everyone here did a fantastic job with the roles they were given, which is why it's even more of a shame that we didn't see these characters we know and(kinda) love more in this film. I knew that a follow-up to a massive show like the Sopranos wasn't going to live up to the hype, but this was just disappointing.

[@rigs5892]

he's supposively considering a series spinoff from the movie i believe. he mentioned it in an interview, i don't want to misquote as i could be wrong without watching the interview right this second. but pretty positive he said it is something he's considering.

[@johnjohnsonjohn]

They should have never done it because it was unecssary

[@NHBSQ871]

1,000x yes. I suppose David Chase just wasn't up to it, but. That would've been the much better option... this movie plain sucked.

[@DABRJ]

Dc comics? The fuck you mean?

[@NHBSQ871]

@@DABRJ David Chase.

[@SuperScarface83]

The medication subplot at 10:20 did get some payoff when it was revealed that Dickie had some of the medication on him when he died, implying that he was probably planning to provide it to Tony the following day so that Tony could help his mother. The whole subplot is pretty clumsy, but I think they threw it in as a way to emphasize the tragedy of what could have been had Dickie not been killed that night.

[@traffikkone3840]

Also, maybe fuelling the rumor that Dickie was a junkie? We never got any of that in the film so I sorta assumed that was a factor.

[@SuperScarface83]

@@traffikkone3840 That too. And of course Livia instantly judged Dickie for needing drugs when the medication was likely meant for her.

[@TheSands83]

He wasn’t much more than a fucking junkie

[@TheSands83]

@@traffikkone3840 yeah that’s why I actually picked that up n thought exactly the thing

[@ZeroPercentAngel42]

Everyone's talking about how it should've been a mini-series, but I'm thinking it could also have spawned three movies. The first following young Johnny Boy, Junior, and Livia, the second centered around a rivalry between Junior and Dickie following Johnny Boy's arrest at the onset of The Newark Riots, and the 3rd centered around Johnny Boy and Junior competing against Dickie for control over Tony (while serving as a backdoor pilot for a Harold McBrayer spin-off.)

[@user-xm9ms5dl8d]

The blackpranos spin off? Ew

[@dahbay5801]

There will be a trilogy. The next film will introduce Richie April, Jackie Aprile, and Feech LaManna. It will include the takedown of Feech's cardgame and the Willie Overall hit.

[@jakepayne2985]

@@dahbay5801 Stop acting like you’re in the know, you are not.

[@dahbay5801]

@@jakepayne2985 eh...I was really just expressing what I would like to see if there is a sequel. I would really like for a sequel to happen as I expect most Sopranos fans do.

[@jakepayne2985]

@@dahbay5801 That I cannot argue with. I want endless Sopranos material. But, this is how misinformation gets spread, by these wild claims given as fact.

[@johnjohnsonjohn]

This never had the makings of a varsity prequel

[@0ussama01]

Aaaah what the f... What the hell's with you ?

[@mcmasters1484]

They did Junior so dirty it’s crazy. When he was on screen I thought they let r/the sopranos take over writing

[@NoKapprio]

😂fr

[@MASKEDMAN712]

Hahaha true but in all honesty, Junior was very methodical so it was plausible.

[@christinapaterno5585]

It was so bad man. A massacre. Look what they did to our boy....

[@cancelme4200]

Were they implying Junior is gay? I wasn't down with Junior killing Dickie. I feel like they underminded Junior, he doesn't come off as a bad ass gangster who ran North Jersey with his brother. He's kind of a clown.

[@MASKEDMAN712]

@@cancelme4200 that’s what I was thinking too. Which is all the more reason they need to follow-up with a sequel or limited series.

[@niche9015]

"I thought the film did a good job of not relying too much on fan service..." You gotta be kidding lol.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

Eh yeah... in retrospect I was being a bit nice, but honestly I was expected MUCH worse a la Paulie saying "OH!" every two seconds.

[@niche9015]

@@MacabreStorytelling It certainly could have been worse, given just how quotable the Sopranos is.

[@Gorl_from_Duckville]

Honestly I’m not Disappointed that this movie wasn’t great because it’s the same Director that did thor the dark world and Terminator Genisys

[@ringkunmori]

He directed several episode of the Sopranos. It's not like his choice of being director came from nowhere

[@osmanyousif7849]

If he did Terminator Genisys, then that explains why this movie failed as well.

[@NoKapprio]

@@osmanyousif7849 yep

[@NoKapprio]

@@osmanyousif7849 dark world is ass too

[@osmanyousif7849]

@@NoKapprio , I'd say "almost ass". I hated how lame the villain was, the whole motive for the Reality soul, but the only thing keeping it good was Thor and Loki, and the mid-credit scene.

[@makani9004]

Was so disappointed, when the music kicked in at the end I had to stop myself from saying "Are you fucking serious?" The pinkie swear thing was so bologna, right before the first pinkie swear we hear Tony scarred by seeing his dad's friend shot in the back, and you'd think piling Dickie's death on top of that would scare him super straight. Left the theater feeling really empty, which I didnt expect. I also couldn't believe they ruined one of the shows most shocking moments in the first 30 seconds. I also thought Dickie's beep baseball league thing was a lie, him idealizing himself, it cuts back to him alone without Sal and it felt like he was in a dreamworld for a second.

[@eugeniaskelley5194]

I agree.

[@sphillyfanatic7451]

Completely agree!!!

[@maxcalder1010]

Naw when dicky got killed that cemented Tony wanting to be just like his hero Dicky in every way. He died a hero to him and had Dicky lived he probably would have pushed Tony away further.

[@makani9004]

@@maxcalder1010 The last scene we see of Tony before Dickie dies he is throwing the stolen speaker out of his window and cursing Dickie out. How do we go from that to Tony taking up a life of crime in one scene?

[@maxcalder1010]

@@makani9004 Yeah because he lost his hero, father figure, and idea of what a real man is. If Dicky lived Tony probably wouldn’t have joined the mob. At the end all he has left at the end is an idolized version of Dicky in his head to aspire to be like.

[@arashabdullahdawudcharlton5548]

My estimation of David Chase as a director. Just plummeted

[@TheSands83]

He was gay?david chase

[@thewelshbeersnob2783]

He didn’t direct the movie lol

[@nicklyskawa3504]

I feel the exact same way, the entire film feels hollow. From Christopher's narration that was so unnecessary to the themes that I forgot he was narrating the film twice, to the complete failure of the relationship between Dickie and Tony, almost everything in the movie feels unearned. Even the characters we saw from the show felt like flat caricatures of their television counterparts. It all felt surface level, unoriginal, and unearned in every way for me.

[@alv134mommy]

hollow not hallow- hollow meaning empty, hallow meaning holy

[@nicklyskawa3504]

@@alv134mommy Good catch, thanks!

[@hundinger1]

Can't even imagine how a person who doesn't know the Sopranos would develop any interest in most of the characters. Christopher alone, the voice from the grave of a man they don't know and don't give a shit about telling the story of the man who killed him except that story isn't really told, which leaves that "from the grave" storyline undeveloped and pointless. Just one example.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

I’ve never even seen the first full season

[@nicoperez9984]

@@MacabreStorytelling -_-

[@angryanakin]

@@MacabreStorytelling soooo what’s the point of this video lol

[@MacabreStorytelling]

@@angryanakin the show is terrible. Ripped off breaking bad.

[@peytonalexander5300]

@@MacabreStorytelling based

[@Skp1452]

David chase said he wants to make a sequel about tony in the 70s and 80s. Which could make the pinky swear at the end make more sense. It could be Tony is keeping his promise to dickie by living a straight life but the pressure from his dad and family is too much.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

Dat would be interesting! Sort of treat it like a Godfather sort of fall from grace.

[@aZeddPrattFilm]

Interesting. Maybe the music ruined that moment?

[@Jimmy1982Playlists]

That pinky swear at the end, with the Sopranos theme song, is one of the most cringe-worthy moments in film history... 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@LakeHouseRecords]

I found this comment on one of Sopranos Theories videos: "I thought Paulie was the voice as well. Until I saw Jilly Ruffalo listed in the credits played by Ed Marinaro. Which led me to investigate in what scenes I missed him. Until I found out the scene was cut from the film. The original scene was Junior giving the hit to Jilly to carry out. I’ve watched interviews with actor Ed Marinaro and it is indeed his voice that is heard over the phone saying “it’s done”. So I believe Jilly had Barry Haydue carry out the hit. Exactly how Tony explains it to Christopher."

[@JohnnyDeur]

yeah, you already wrote this exact comment word for word on another video.. We get IT You are a glory hound

[@niche9015]

That's awesome, I was wondering about whether they would address that connection!

[@Jimmy1982Playlists]

I always thought Tony was telling Christopher the truth (for the most part) about his father's killer.

[@PuddingAtheist]

I really want to believe it was Old Man Bacala who carried it out

[@pearcefitzpatrickodonovan480]

I kept forgetting that if you haven't seen the sopranos this film spoils chrissys death ffs

[@Chrono337]

Spot on review. Just one point regarding Junior being the one behind the hit on Dicky. While I absolutely loathe this decision by the writers, I think you could make an argument that it makes sense thematically. In Season 1, the two main reasons why Junior tries to have Tony killed is 1. Because he feels emasculated about Tony making fun of him for giving head to his girlfriend 2. He feels undermined by Tony running things instead of him. This is kind of mirrored in the movie: 1. Dicky making that joke about him being gay and 2. Johnny praising Dicky for how he handled things while he was in jail. So putting out the hit felt consistent with his character, even though it was way weaker than in the Sopranos.

[@olivergould5428]

They should've got Borko in as a consultant

[@thelaw6267]

The entire movie should have been focused on Dickie and Tony, and the tagline of 'Who Made Tony Soprano?' Should have been the actual theme of the movie. Cut out the unnecessary subplots, maybe keep him visiting his father or uncle in prison and none of that twin idiocy. Dickie should have been portrayed as a villain protagonist who was actually actively teaching Tony to be a young criminal and having him do work for him. Seeing and taking advantage of Tony's need for a father figure, and being charming and kind to him, a Ralph type, like what Ralph did with Jackie Jr (which could play into why he despises Ralph so much in the series, unconsciously recognizing the real Dickie in him, a two faced predator preying on a young man's need of guidance), while really not giving much of a shit about Tony, just using him for his own ends and business. Show him degenerate from the seemingly suave, charming, good looking guy and rising star he was in the 60's, taking on the New England Crew single handed, to a degenerate junkie in the 70's who gets himself killed by the family for becoming a liability. In keeping with all of Tony's role models actually being scumbags, once he takes off the rose colored lenses. Christopher flat out tells Tony as much about his father in the show, and he seems taken aback by it, because he's been deluding himself for years over the kind of man Dickie was. Tony realizing his father/mentor figures he looked up to were all bastards who doomed him to a life of crime and misery was part of why he went off the deep end in the last season. It was like the movie couldn't commit to making Dickie the awful person he almost certainly was meant to be in the show, had to try to make him sympathetic like Tony, and was too caught up in its political agenda and tried to do too much in such a short time that they missed the entire point. All the material for a good prequel was already there in the series for David Chase, anyone could have written it properly, and he lost focus and tripped over himself instead.

[@HowieFeltersnatchMD]

Very allegorical

[@DweezyBreezey]

Yeah, I was just confused the whole time while watching it. What was the main conflict? What's the purpose of these scenes? Why feature the race riots at all? What is Harlod doing here? Why isn't Johnny Boy doing more? Etc., etc. I spent the first half of the movie thinking it was still setting up the first, only to pause it and be hit with the terrible realization that the movie has no focus. It's a bunch of jumbled ideas that didn't coalesce into a singular vision. It's a shame too, because I think a lot of the plot lines it comes up with are interesting, and that if this was a miniseries or something, it could have actually been good. But as is, it's kinda just in one ear, out the other. And Silvio's actor....man that guy he...he was definitely was acting...yeah.

[@billsimms2511]

Ultimately the film felt boring and pointless. I wonder what Chase was really aiming for here…?

[@alfredbonetti6934]

Junior and Harold conspired against Dickie the whole time. Go back and watch again with that in mind and it’ll answer your questions.

[@DweezyBreezey]

@@snaffy41 What the hell are you talking about?

[@Dee-1969]

You know who had an arc? Noah.

[@georgeoconnor3274]

The plot and dialogue in this film genuinely felt like it was written by a child who watched the sopranos once. Can't believe it was David Chase himself.

[@ahmadtrip4623]

I was hoping the end credit scene would show something more important than just a quick clip of Harold looking down a damn street lol

[@franz4445]

This needed to be a mini series.

[@dividedwestand1613]

I did like how chris and everyone thought Dickie was a drug addict bc he died with Olivia's medication in his pocket...and the narration was weird..but I do like that even in death chris is an idiot...Neil young gave a speech from the moon?!?! Classic moltisanti lol!

[@bl5533]

Lol

[@samanthab1923]

What meds were Livia on?

[@dividedwestand1613]

The meds tony asked Dickie to talk to her about...maybe it was just the brochure they weren't clear at the funeral

[@chrisg2214]

I enjoyed Michael Gandolfini playing Tony soprano. I would be OK if they did a miniseries on the early days. The movie wasn’t that good, but it’s nice to revisit that universe. It should’ve been a mini series with more depth.

[@chrisg2214]

Also if David Chase wants to make a movie on the Newark riots, why can’t he just make that movie? The dude is a legendary writer, I don’t know why he had to try to shove the Sopranos in. Just make it two different things or a mini series

[@mrturtletail3945]

This movie should of focused solely on Tony, Livia, Johnny Boy, and Dickie. Would of been a tighter script. If you want to add everything else, should probably be a mini series.

[@mcmasters1484]

Honestly I thought the entire movie should have focused on Dickie his dad and his uncle. The best parts of the movie are Dickie and sally talking after all

[@snaffy41]

But...then you cannot insert...SJW nonsense....and ruin the Sopranos as well...Pretend this movie does not exist

[@NoKapprio]

Yep

[@joshuajarod1909]

@@snaffy41 What was SJW to you

[@juandirection8820]

Having a significant portion of the film focused on race that added nothing to the film in order to fill HBOs diversity quota

[@offdacorner]

The Sopranos is one of the greatest pieces of art ever created. This movie had absolutely no redeeming qualities. Absolutely none.

[@tmcr5656]

So a pinky promise led Tony to join the mob🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

[@lifeisstr4nge]

The prequel never had the makings of a varsity prequel.

[@M3rchantofD34th]

In the Sopranos, (assuming Hedu is the killer) the reason that Tony let him live was that he was a cop, and the mafia have rules against killing cops (brings way too much heat on the business). Once the cop retires however, he's fair game. I agree that it's very much ambiguous whether the cop actually was Dickie's killer though.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

Either way, I think in this particular case though they would absolutely make an exception.

[@M3rchantofD34th]

@@MacabreStorytelling I disagree with you on that... However, I think we can both agree that the way Many Saints of Newark handled this whole element cheapened it by like 10000%

[@kingmob2716]

@@M3rchantofD34th The mob does not give a fuck about killing cops. Joel Cacace killed a cop for sleeping with his ex-wife.

[@fatherleo4603]

Alessandro Nivola deserved a spin off series as Dickie

[@rasheemthebestfirstone3274]

Facts this was too short

[@bungle3912]

He didn’t. He wasn’t charismatic enough.

[@MASKEDMAN712]

That’s how they should’ve developed this. The acting was actually very good, but Chase messed up on the plot development.

[@astroguster5522]

You mentioned that the sub plot with Tony trying to get Olivia's meds is pointless, but it's there to show why Dickie had a rep as a drug addict. Regardless, its done so half-assed and also disappointing that that one instance makes everyone around Dickie assume hes addicted to drugs. There were so many options at Chase's fingertips and he went with almost nothing substantial. Also, the baby Christopher scene has my most cringy line, "It's your uncle tony, goochee goo!" 🤦

[@benjamingentile1660]

Did you think Dickie’s “uncle” was just him imagining how he could have confronted his father?

[@MacabreStorytelling]

Like a mental projection of sorts? Seems interesting. I thought Liotta did a great job contrasting the two twins. One solemn and to the point, the other a windbag lol

[@benjamingentile1660]

@@MacabreStorytelling Liotta was fantastic. yeah, you know David Chase would be into that kind of thing. Feels a bit to silly to have it really be an identical twin. I think the beep baseball was an imagination too-what he would do if he did good things.

[@spongevee1]

@@benjamingentile1660 The blind kids went to Dickie's funeral.

[@johnallen3033]

@@benjamingentile1660 Identical twins were a recurring theme in the show; Philly and Patsy, Jeannie Cusamano and her sister, Tony Blundetto's sons etc. Not sure if there's any meaning to it though, for all I know the answer to all these deep questions about symbolism is "David Chase thought it would be funny"

[@0ussama01]

House of the dragon, an HBO prequel: ah shit !

[@davekennedy6315]

I do really love The Sopranos, but found Saints a tedious mess. The mob content of the film was minimal and I wasn't remotely interested in the race riots. I was very impressed with the acting of Tony and Dickie. But all in all a major disappointment.

[@ekLuca]

The ending and the whole movie makes sense only if its only the first part of a trilogy. I think thats what Chase wanted, but this movie bombed so badly we are never getting the other parts :(

[@ahumanbeingfromtheearth1502]

honestly, if this film is any indication, I'm not sad that we aren't getting the other parts.

[@Turtlej47]

David Chase never had the makings of a varsity filmmaker

[@ndep93]

Just off the top of my head the characters that were shockingly absent in the film are: Tony B - Tony's first cousin and someone else who would eventually become a mobster Richie Aprile - Janice's highschool boyfriend and Jackie's older brother Feech LaManna - prominent member of the DeMeo family; Tony and Jackie famously robbed his card game Ralph - a friend (then) and member of Tony and Jackie's Mickey Mouse crew Silvio and Pussy look to be in their 40s when in the show it's made known to the viewer that they grew up with Tony, Jackie and Ralph. Jackie is hardly in it despite being Tony's best friend. Almost none of the events that the show described as critical moments in Tony's upbringing, like the card game robbery, for example. This thing was marketed as a prequel that would explain to us how Tony Soprano got into the mob life. Instead we got the life and times of Dickie Moltisanti and the Newark race riots...For this movie, I can get focusing on Dickie seeing how Tony held him in such high regard and his ghost hangs over Tony and Christopher for much of the show, but to make the movie mostly about him was confusing. And this thing with Harold and the race riots and Frank Lucas...why? None of that factored into the show. Why was this given more focus than Tony Soprano?!

[@gorillachronicles]

As soon as Chris said in the opening monologue "my cousin Tony ,he choked me to death " I was out

[@leahhart3585]

As someone who loved the show. This movie was a huge let down.

[@jordanmeyler9239]

The side plot with the drugs for Tony's mom does pay off. Dickie is found with them on his person after he's murdered. Dickie was never really shown to have a drug problem in the movie. This leads me to believe it was those same drugs that created a rumor that dickie had a drug addiction, which Chris later used to justify his own addiction.

[@ringkunmori]

Very observant review Macabre, the sacred and the propane.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

It’s a f*cking stagmire of a film I tells ya

[@starfthegreat]

I disagree on your point about Junior killing Dickie. While I wish the movie would have fleshed out their relationship even more, all those characters do is kill each other over petty bullshit. Remember the Ralph vs Johnny Sack dispute, Johnny wanted Ralph dead just because he joked about his wife's weight. One of the themes of the Sopranos is how the mob is an unsustainable lifestyle and business due to the mobsters ego, they could be earning much more if they stopped being so petty about everything and did a better job at separating their feelings from their "profession", but no they have to be prideful and vengeful even to the point of killing their best earners (like Tony killing Ralph or Junior killing Dickie).

[@mculdis]

okey this is my theory on how the plot should of been, if they decided to keep the ''Junior killing Dickie'' ending. The movie could of been about Dickie trying to save tony from the mob life acting as his gaurdian, while Junior could of also been a father figure like character to Tony but wanted Tony on the Mob side of things, i feel like that would tie all of the plot lines togheter (except the race riots) into one solid story. Dickie Feeling Deppresed and Ashamed about killing his father would be the motivation for Him to help tony, as maybe he dosent want tony to do the same thing dickie did. While Junior Sees Tonies potential in the mob, and how dickie is activly keeping him away from it, decides to whack Dickie. That would also tie in some of the petty reasons he hated Dickie. Thats my Idea anyway, sorry for my grammar, great channel by the way, love your stuff.

[@SimGunther]

Came for the nice TV trays, stayed for the stunning analysis that's worthy of a chef's kiss.

[@ghostdigit1555]

The lack of gabagool disturbs me.

[@BitesTheDusto]

I need to see a mr robot video on this channel immediately, I’m binging all of these videos. Just found your channel, great work👍

[@burningexeter4365]

I didn't hate this movie, I enjoyed a lot of it. But that said I do completely agree with many people that this shouldn't have been a movie, it should've been a miniseries. The story would've worked much better and flowed better if it was a 10 episode miniseries. Then again what would you expect from a film made by the director of Thor: The Dark World and Terminator Genisys.

[@SuperNuclearUnicorn]

Curious as to what others think, but finding out why Tony turned to his life of crime is something I'd almost rather not know. It's one of those things I'd prefer to imagine for myself, piecing it together with the bits of information that we get. That's what I always dislike about sequels and prequels to things that are perfectly contained as is. I don't want to know what happened after the screen faded to black at the end of the last episode of The Sopranos or where Jesse drove to at the end of Breaking Bad, same goes for what happened before the story starts

[@davemccombs]

I dig your channel. Gimme some Wire S5 talk and a hot take on Sopranos any day of the week. Usually everybody's content to gloss over the former without much thought, and pretty much everyone just carbon copies each other's opinions on the latter. Love it. By the way, I'm making an incredibly in-depth, labor-of-love style tabletop RPG/video game based on the Wire that resembles axis and allies/total war/x-com/Warhammer 40k, only it's early 2000's Baltimore and you play as either the Barksdales, Stewart Organization, Stanfield organization, or the BPD. I can't show it off to many people for obvious reasons but if that sounds like something you'd like to look at later on down the line, happy to share (I'm making it for true, blue Wire fans, its complexity means it probably won't ever get picked up/sold). The tutorial is Snot Boogie's dice game, Bubbles is a roaming store for players, Omar a map hazard, uses a giant map of Baltimore's streets as the play area, I programmed all of D&D's mechanics (like poison, armor, etc) into vehicles and characters. Cutty's gym adds physical skills, mayoral elections. Man, let me tell you, when I say I took just about EVERY scene/aspect of the Wire and RPG-i-fied it, I ain't lying.

[@thetechlibrarian]

We would love to see it when it’s done.

[@danielkeller9729]

I actually thought the movie did explain how Tony got involved. If dicky stayed in the picture he could of kept Tony out of the mob life and the mob life away from Tony with his influence. With junior having Dicky killed and taking over he would get Tony involved.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

I like that idea, the only issue is that it seemed like, whether it was in the promotional material or even in the series, it seems it was Dickie’s influence that kept Tony away… but even then the scene where he gives him the speakers seems weird. I could tell if Dickie wanted him to eventually enter the family or no. Again I think it was more a lack of communication.

[@camcabbas]

@@MacabreStorytelling the speakers scene is a bit contradictory but then again the characters in the world of the Sopranos are full of contradictions. He told Tony to stay out of trouble when he was a boy, but ten years or something have passed since then, people change or don't always do what they preach. Also, his decision to try to keep Tony out of the crime life seems to come after he speaks with Sally, which happens later in the film. I personally think the speakers scene is there to show that Dickie was still a bad influence on Tony, even if he'd try otherwise, since he was a mobster after all, but he then realizes this and its when he wants to cut ties with him.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

@@camcabbas eh again this feels like we are trying to make it work as opposed to it falling into place. It seemed the consistency of what Dickie wanted for Tony was all over the place.

[@camcabbas]

@@MacabreStorytelling a little bit, but then again I don't think it needed to be that consistent, cause then again the characters in the show were never actually consistent in what they wanted in regards to personal matters at least

[@Kcashgunna]

@@camcabbas this guy ^ macabre claimed he didnt even finish the full season. This movie was a great extension of the world and filled in a lot of holes, at least for me. People don't watch shows for intricacies anymore, I though Dickie was great and I saw Tony's characteristics all over him. The parallel of how Dickie tried to keep the family together, while "wanting" to do good deeds to offset his bad, is literally a page out of The Sopranos handbook. Especially looking at Tony's life. Just let these guys be wrongfully confused man, Chase has stated PLENTY of times this is not a TONY SOPRANO ORIGIN STORY.

[@notrdy4thisjelly546]

To be honest I've been avoiding hearing other opinions since I really liked it. And since the world is complete shit I wanted to hold on to the one piece of media I was excited for this year. I know it was messy but it was kind of exactly what I needed.

[@norwegianblue2017]

I thought it was very good as well! Can't really take this reviewer too seriously since he opens with the fact that he is not much of a Sopranos fan. I figured that most of the people that didn't like the movie didn't like it because it had a different vibe than the series. The dialogue isn't as snappy or as funny. But I think the movie is actually more realistic. It did a great job at fleshing out the early days of Tony's predecessors. Would love to see another movie focusing on Tony on the rise as a young man in the 80s.

[@notrdy4thisjelly546]

@@norwegianblue2017 lol, im not sure if you're joking too but this guy is a sopranos nut. His other videos on sopranos stuff are AWESOME if you haven't checked them out. But yeah to an extent I thought the looseness of the plot was kind of in line with the series' style. I agree with both you and most of the video- and yeah I still really liked the movie all at the same time!

[@mercop1472]

I agree

[@Dee-1969]

I liked it too. It was all over the place. They could do better. Too much to tell in a 2 hour film

[@militantautist9811]

I liked it too but the more I think about it the more I realize it makes no fucking sense in the sopranos universe and there's just so many ham fisted references and continuity errors, not even to mention the whole black riot part of the storyline that should've been it's own movie and not involved at all that this movie is a non cannon fan film in my mind at this point. Not bad, but not perfect either

[@mpm1125]

So, it wasn’t just me. This movie didn’t make any sense to me. I didn’t dislike it, it was just annoying.

[@nerdtube4life]

Your review was spot on and excellent

[@DAN985]

Something else that made no sense. In this prequel, Silvio Dante is portrayed as being at least 25 years older than Tony (at the beginning of the film he is already a made guy while Tony is in high school), yet in the original series, it was firmly established that Tony and Silvio were childhood pals, they grew up together and ran a minor league crew together as kids (along with Jackie and Ralph) throughout those years they developed a strong friendship which was crucial to the original series. In this prequel that relationship was completely omitted since Silvio is more like Paulie and big pussys age.

[@KennethKaniff999]

I agree with pretty much everything you said, but honestly the part when Johnny shoots the beehive hairdo was probably my favorite part of the movie.

[@escalatingbarbarism5096]

It seems like they did reshoots to add in more Tony. But they still didn't add in enough to justify him taking so much time away from the main plot.

[@dustmighte]

The movie’s ending is completely inconsistent with the show because Tony and Junior’s relationship, and thus the family and therapy scenes, would’ve been completely different if that event had taken place. There’s no way that even the faintest rumor wouldn’t catch up to Tony. My knee-jerk reaction to the reveal in the end was to be moved by the tragedy that Junior had an even more perverse role in Tony’s life, but that immediately got ruined by the sense of incoherence.

[@Ennaitak]

I liked Harold as a character, but I didn't understand why he needed to be in a sopranos movie. Especially since he doesn't really contribute anything to the overall story. If they were really gonna go with the "Uncle Junior putting a hit on Dickie" angle it would have made sense if maybe Junior and Harold worked together. Like have a scene with them sitting down and saying something like "Hey we both want Dickie dead how can we both benefit from this?" Would it have made a good ending? I don't know. But at least Harold would serve a purpose in the third act of the movie and the plot would have flowed a little more smoothly.

[@alfredbonetti6934]

I think you just nailed it. Junior and Harold worked together the whole time.

[@Nitolordgrave]

@@alfredbonetti6934 they didn't work together o.o

[@knoelle1357]

I agree with you. Admittedly, The Sopranos is a *very* hard act to follow, but it felt like TMSON tried to be so many things at once that it ended up not being much of anything at all.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

Precisely. Honestly if they just went with the story of Harold maybe with the backdrop of the DiMeo family, that’s be fine. But it wanted to have it both ways.

[@amp888]

1:32 "Where did he go wrong? What resulted in Tony deciding to forego his alternative prospects and fall into a life of crime?" Such a shame; if only he had the makings of a varsity athlete...

[@samanthab1923]

This is nonsense. He was always going to follow in his fathers foot steps. It's the family business.

[@ripleyevil9135]

I don’t know why they showed when Johnny got arrested at the fair with Janice again. In the series they show him coming home that same night but in the movie he goes to jail (Tony’s a kid) for years and we see him for his welcome home party (Tony’s a teenager).

[@likeandsharedeeznutsbruh2845]

They didn't even get the outfits they're wearing right and the dude that gets shot, happens completely differently in the show. It seems like that was shoe horned in and they didn't go back to the show and check

[@gtagerry2896]

That dude that christphor killed was screaming "I'm sorry" just before he shot him. To me that's a confession.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

So it’s strange because I’ve actually heard that is coming from the TV though I don’t have confirmation on that.

[@janeshepard9549]

So it's basically the Solo StarWars prequel - a dull plot infested with unnecessary time spent easter eggs & callbacks to the main series for corporate advertising which first-timers will have no idea about ( like seriously who wants know where someone's cockpit dice came from ? ) + some sequel bait to the main series so they can make a pre-sequel if the movie makes enough money.

[@topdollarblackpillgangster4908]

12:37 😄😄😄 good one! I disagree about Livia though. In this film, she comes across more as Carmella rather than Livia.

[@kirk1701]

Great analysis. I'm also not a big fan of _The Sopranos,_ but I do like watching clips every now and then....and the prequel would have been my way to get a sense of the bigger in two and a half hours. There isn't a focus in regards to storytelling, as brought out in the video....but the acting in the film was cool.

[@gamesthatshouldbeframed3760]

Well at least we can all agree on the fact that the breaking bad crew has made the better prequel

[@MrKrisrey]

The medication led to a rumor being started about him being a drug addict. Christopher says at one point that his father was a junky but they never showed him doing any drugs in the movie. That's how I saw it at least

[@MacabreStorytelling]

I guess... but it doesn't seem like it affects all that much. I suppose that is interesting but Dickie also murdered a woman so him NOT being a drug addict didn't seem to make a difference.

[@jackzimmy8461]

It doesn’t really groove with the show, though. Dickie’s addiction was referred to as a well-known fact. He’s also drinking liquor from the bottle in the middle of the day, so I don’t know why it’s so tragic that an alcoholic is misrepresented as a pill-popper. It just felt like a very weak twist. Maybe if they’d shown him chewing out Tony for trying coke, flushing it down the toilet, giving a lecture to Junior/Sil/Paulie about why they shouldn’t sell drugs, it would’ve flown. Like most things in the movie it comes across as half-baked (no pun intended)

[@Frugustin]

You completely missed the point of the pinky swear. It's Dickie handing over the mental gymnastics he was wielding the entire movie to Tony. It was very blatant in prison scenes. What movie thinks of Dickie. That he is a hypocrite, who thinks he can absolve himself of murder and other abhorrent deeds. By doing small good things on the side. Which is where twin of the father he killed, blatantly tells him is not enough to be go into a "net positive". This is the exact hypocritical thinking that Tony shows through the show and Dickie passes it to him in that scene. Throughout the film, same thinking was relayed to Tony multiple times, like with the speaker. "Last thing I ever steal". The essential part of Sopranos is characters lying. To both themselves and others. Not my words but Chase's.

[@georgefoley1778]

They should have let Chase make his riot film or mini-series like he requested, but they said no and the only way he could do it was by making this fil and adding elements from the race riot. When watching this as a Sopranos fan it just did not work.

[@sphillyfanatic7451]

Great video, perfectly said!!

[@vernefits1953]

Great review

[@tuffgong2568]

A great review, a strong review of art considers its intentions or what the creators were trying for.

[@MarquisdeSuave]

Does anybody else think Dickie's uncle was just a figment of his imagination? Like the character came out of left field, happened to give him nothing but good advice and always seemed to know the truth behind the scenes no matter what Dickie was telling him. Also, and I could be completely wrong here, but there was really no mention of the character before or after (during the original series) by anybody. He just seemed to pop up when Dickie killed his dad, happened to look and speak exactly like his dad and acted like his conscience as Dickie always seemed to have an understanding of what was good or bad but always took the bad route because it was what is expected of a person in his position. Unless Im missing something (and I have only watched the film once so that is probably the case) I think his Uncle was a Jiminy Cricket type character, the angel on his shoulder telling Dickie the how, what and why he needed to change his whole life around before it was too late.

[@tommythompson7941]

I am going to binge watch Sopranos now. They tried. It was nice to anticipate something after so much time.

[@KillahkiddRPCrecords]

Everyone saying this shoulda been a mini series and I’m just here like this shouldn’t have existed and they should of just let the show be.

[@Kiddo_williams]

Facts it was so disappointing. They also retconned stuff too.

[@Kommiekiller]

This movie did not have the makings of a varsity athlete

[@PYRO-ON]

Well said....I wholeheartedly watched this movie 6x on HBO Max and couldn’t find anything better to say than what u said .

[@sjj111]

Hearing the way Michael Gandolfini said "coochie coo Christopher" made it worth the hot mess.

[@fineblanket]

When it ended I thought "oh so there's a part 2?"

[@rainbowthegod]

The wire

[@mystaniceguy]

Harold speaking with an “Associate “… Frank Lucas deserves more credit than that lol.

[@iforgotthenamemate]

Movie felt mostly like a random piece and people that were taken out of nowhere. I like Michael Gandolfini, he has a great future in movies but he felt like out of the place confused or something. This would be great as a miniseries not a movie.

[@PREZofUSSA]

It's not that they should have "made a mini series" , it's that they should have just made a good movie

[@benjamingentile1660]

Dang man, now I wish I was a patron with an “r” in his name

[@rustyshackelford7025]

Haven't watched this yet, just came to say I watched it the other night, and was HIGHLY disappointed. I literally said to my fiance', "What the fuck was the point?" I understand it was supposed to be, "Oh, he was tight with Dicky, and when Dicky was killed, it gave him the push", but the rest of the movie failed to give any real insight on a multitude of things.

[@scottsodyssey2485]

It died on the vine.

[@MacabreStorytelling]

iT dIeD oN tHe vInE

[@thewarnerchannel7285]

Near the end of the series, Pauly says the first person Tony killed was a black drug dealer. I thought the turf war between the Italian and black gangs was leading up to that, but then the movie just ended

[@aaacomp1]

LOL, Liotta was terrible in this movie. Man couldn't emote his way out of a wet paper bag

[@darrisprice9311]

“Woke” up this morning sums it all up. Was Silvio in his 60’s when the show aired? Who was Chris’s mother? So Dickie wasn’t a junkie and a drunk? What a wasted opportunity!

[@ANationsHero]

I kinda liked the movie. Dickie is one of my favorite characters. I understand how tony looked up to him. A classic oldschool Gangster.

[@kg7219]

I enjoyed it for what it was. But my issue was with the fact that if u took someone who never finished the show they would be so lost. Also the acting was hit or miss…. The guy who played sil did such a bad job… but Livias actress was amazing. Such a weird movie

[@Sadness57]

Just be glad chase didn’t any involvement with better call Saul. That’s a great prequel series

[@s_mazey]

We know Tony’s first kill was an African-American bookie named Willie overall. I kept waiting for that to tie in to the movie. The Newark riots was an actual important event at the time and I have zero issue with David Chase adding it in (I’m not a douche that cries when movies try to be “woke”), but in this case, Chase basically said “we weren’t gonna address the riots then summer of 2020 happened so we added it in.” It’s an afterthought in which zero thought went into it.

[@hkleider]

You're a douche for being OK with woke movies

[@s_mazey]

@@hkleider lol ok

[@alv134mommy]

i'm pretty sure Chase wanted to make a movie about the riots...and this was the way to get it done, linking it in with the Sopranos.

[@aegonthedragon7303]

@Karl Johan hush down little man, let the adults talk.

[@ip3887]

@@aegonthedragon7303 "Adults" with tye dye hair color swallowing woke propaganda wholesale. Edit: Ok I'll sit now, let the highbrow rhetoric commence 🤤🤣💀

[@SairajRKamath]

This movie honestly told me more about Christopher than it did Tony. Dude comes from a long line of fuck-ups, apparently.

[@dunamisbacchus]

I think the pinky swear is his promise to get revenge for Dicky, remember in the show Tony kills Willie Overall or a bookie tied to that situation. So I think this is foreshadowing to Tony killing Harold.

[@DAN985]

You summed up the films flaws beautifully!