Cape Fear

Yet the grubby story is elevated by a superior cast in both the original and this grimly bloodthirsty remake.

(De Niro) had played a tough guy before, but never quite like this: a very sinister, very jagged, very dangerous character… put that together with Martin Scorsese at possibly the peak of his powers, and it’s a delightful if slightly scary film.

Martin Scorsese wasn't supposed to remake the 1962 thriller, but when he did, he brought along his longtime muse and infused the story with an overwhelming amount of trademark chaos...

The wrath of De Niro, especially when pitched to the level of a jangle-brained Jehovah, is a mighty thing, but, in this case, its inherent cartoonery capsizes this film's small-story frame.

It gives you a pumped-up, thrill-happy ride (assuming you have a stomach for violent pulp) but it doesn't linger in the mind as Scorsese's richest movies do. It's a swell B movie dressed in haute cinematic couture.

Proves that when a maverick virtuoso like Scorsese sets his mind to it, making ''mainstream'' movies is one more thing he can do better than just about anyone else.

The picture's missteps are more than numerous.

Ever shot reminds you that a consummate artist is having a great time remaking a kinky minor classic.

Everything is relatively dirty, and no one is truly good, except for this film, it's phenomenal. [Full review in Spanish]

It's a mess, really. But what a mess! Why do we call Scorsese one of the great filmmakers of his generation? Because, like all the great ones, even when he fails he fails with style and with wit.