Mafia movies are as old as cinema itself. The first film in the subgenre (The Black Hand) came as early as 1906, but it was in the 1930s that the supply increased. The mobsters that popped up during The Great Depression and the Prohibition Era had given film directors creative ideas, so hits likeLittle CeasarandThe Public Enemywere made. The ‘70s would end up being the golden decade, thanks to the release of movies likeThe GodfatherandMean Streets.From there on, the supply remained steady, hence genre fans always had something to munch on.
Today, mafia movies no longer make headlines like they used to. That’s partly because there is less media hype surrounding organized crime. In the past, prominent figures like John Gotti and Carlo Gambino made the public more curious about mob life. Such news-making figures no longer exist. Still, genre fans remain devoted and always looking out for new releases. Whether it’s films that dive deep into the core of the mob’s operations or those that take an outside look via “Average Joes” or law enforcement figures, mafia stories never fail to entertain. In the 2020s, this is the best of what has been on offer.
10Lansky (2021)
It’s been more than 40 years since he died, but the legend of Meyer Lansky keeps growing stronger. Despite being a well-known mobster and one of the founders of the National Crime Syndicate (the American governing body for the mafia), he only spent a few months in jail in 1953. Rumor has it that he escaped the long arm of the law because he had photos that proved legendary FBI director J. Edgar Hoover was in a sexual relationship with his male assistant, Clyde Tolson. In an age where homophobia was still a major thorn, these photos were ideal tools for blackmail.
Such details, and many more, are offered in director Eytan Rockaway’s.movieLansky. Here, audiences are introduced to an aging Lansky as he is dealing with a fresh FBI investigation into his affairs. Aware that he has little time left, he decides to narrate his story to a struggling writer, on the condition that nothing will be published until after his death. The film thus uses flashbacks to dig into the mobster’s life.
Keitel in Familiar Territory
Lanskyis worth watching for the performances alone. Harvey Keitel plays the notorious criminal figure, and like a Don who knows where every dead body is buried, he understands the energy every scene requires. The expertise is hardly surprising. Keitel has not only played various fictional gangsters but also a few real ones. He portrayed the Las Vegas Strip founder, Bugsy Siegel, inVirginia Hilland Mickey Cohen inBugsy. Keitel also played the Philadelphia crime family boss, Angelo Bruno inThe Irishman. This kind of task thus counts as muscle memory for the actor now. In this biopic, he channels Lansky’s mannerisms with dedication and confidence. His performance, coupled with a smooth-flowing plot, makes for an all-around enjoyable film.Stream it on Prime Video.
9Night in Paradise (2020)
In the old days, mob bosses made offers people couldn’t refuse. Unfortunately, the current generation is stubborn. WhenNight in Paradise’s protagonist, Tae-gu, is approached by the Bukseong gang leader, Chairman Doh, and asked to join his outfit, he says no. Offended, Doh kills Tae-gu’s sister and niece. In retaliation, Tae-gu kills Doh and a good number of his henchmen. He then flees to a nearby island as he makes plans to disappear for good.
An Eye for an Eye
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world go blind.” His words play out practically inNight in Paradise. The initial violent acts trigger a lengthy chain reaction that stretches to the film’s final minutes. Even the woman who Tae-gu falls in love with becomes part of the chaos. She is one of the last people standing, but her story doesn’t end well either. But in as much as there are lots of sad and brutal killings, the Korean mob flick, the endless chain of violence boosts the entertainment value greatly.Stream it on Netflix.
8The Outfit (2022)
The Outfitis set in 1950s Chicago, where gangsters like Al Capone and Johnny Torio no longer exist, yet mob activity is still rampant. The title is both literal and figurative. The events revolve around Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance), an English cutter whose tailor shop is used by Irish Mob boss Roy Boyle as a stash house. The arrangement bothers him, but he never opts out because most of his clothes customers are Boyle’s family members and associates.
More Threats… Less Action
Audiences can always expect numerous whackings and fights in mob movies, butThe Outfitdoesn’t adhere to such a template. Instead, it leans more on dialogue. There are endless confrontations and threats, all happening inside Burling’s shop. The single location setting gives the movie aReservoir Dogsfeel, and the story flows smoothly, thanks to the meticulousness of the director and screenwriter Alan Moore.
The award-winning filmmaker won an Oscar for scripting one of thegreatest British World War II dramas,The Imitation Game, and he keeps the tension high here. Additionally, he develops each character so much that audiences feel a sense of emptiness whenever the camera isn’t on them.Stream it on Starz.
7Nobody (2021)
Nobodybegins with an interrogation scene. Family man Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) is being questioned by FBI agents, who keep reminding him that it’s in his best interest to “tell us what we need to know.” Well, Hutch insists that he is a “nobody,” which isn’t exactly true. He is no everydayman. He is a retired assassin, who has been forced to use his particular set of skills once again after he and his family become the targets of a vengeful Russian Don.
It Rides in the Taken and John Wick Lane
Though it’s a mob movie,Nobodyshines because of the action sequences. Audiences have come to love the modern one-man-army action hero who beats up everyone in a believable manner, and Hutch does the same. Each punch and kick is delivered slowly and effectively enough for audiences to keep up.
Despite never having had an action role before, Odenkirk seems completely comfortable here. This is hardly surprising, since he has dealt with deadly gangsters dozens of times inBreaking BadandBetter Call Saul.Stream it on FreeVee.
A docile family man slowly reveals his true character after his house gets burgled by two petty thieves, which, coincidentally, leads him into a bloody war with a Russian crime boss. Starring Bob Odenkirk and Christopher Lloyd.
6The Many Saints of Newark (2021)
Rumors of a film set in the world ofThe Sopranoshad been going around for years, and fans were thrilled when it finally happened. The film takes viewers back to Tony Soprano’s earlier years. This time, the man who would grow up to become a New Jersey Don is more of a supporting character. The events mainly revolve around his uncle Dickie Moltisanti and the infamous Newark riots. Dickie does a great job of mentoring Tony, but he, himself, makes some wrong choices that land him in trouble.
A Wholesome Fan Service Project
The Many Saints of Newarkis all about fan service, so new viewers are unlikely to be as impressed as those who have already watchedThe Sopranos. Fan-favorite characters like Paulie, Silvio, Janice, and Junior return as younger versions of themselves. The film also corrects what many feel like a major missed opportunity.
Ray Liotta, who was one of theactors originally meant to appear in the original show, has a dual role here as the twin brothers “Hollywood Dick” Moltisanti and Salvatore “Sally” Moltisanti. Apart from bringing back familiar characters and serving the usual dose of violence that fans were used to, the show shines by answering all the burning questions about the pre-show era.Stream it on Max.
The Many Saints of Newark
5Fast Charlie (2023)
Fast Charliefeatures the final film appearance of James Cann, best known for portrayingSonny Corleone inThe Godfather. Based on Victor Gischler’s 2001 novel,Gun Monkeys, the movie follows Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) — a fixer-cum-hitman for a mafia Don named Stan. When Stan gets whacked by a rival, Don, Charlie vows to avenge his death. To make the revenge process easier, he teams up with the wife of another Don that he killed.
Simplicity in Revenge
The faithful adaptation never complicates itself. It starts with a hook. Brosnan’s character is seen with his hands in the air, after complying with a “hands up” order from an unseen villain. “Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got into this situation,” he says. The movie then spends the rest of its 90-minute running time answering that question.
Like most Pierce Brosnan films, there is enough action and tension to satisfy everyone. There is even a scene where someone gets killed by exploding Krispy Kreme Doughnuts. Cinema fun doesn’t get better than that.Rent it on Apple TV+.
Fast Charlie
4Capone (2020)
Caponedoesn’t offer genre fans the Al Capone story they would ideally like to see. However, that’s not a bad thing. Director Josh Trank tackles the biopic from a unique angle by focusing on the Prohibition Era mobster’s post-jail years, rather than his glory days. Viewers, therefore, get to see a sickly Capone (Tom Hardy) whose eyes are as red as Nosferatu’s and whose voice is as hoarse as a toad’s.
From the moment Capone first appears on-screen, history buffs will understand why his appearance is almost ghost-like. The Chicago Don spent close to 10 years at Alcatraz, and during this period, his body was brutalized by Syphilis and Gonorrhea that he had contracted before his arrest. By the time he was out, the illness had infiltrated his brain, leaving him with the IQ of a 12-year-old.
Mental Health and Comeuppance
Caponeis a sad film, and those hoping for flashbacks of the mobster’s glory days will be in for a huge disappointment. Still, the film stands tall because it explores mental health. It’s easy to pity Capone when he poops in his pants, but when he starts experiencing hallucinations about the people he murdered, it becomes clear that he deserves whatever is happening to him.
However, gangster movie lovers need not be disappointed as there is a little meat for them. For example, one of the subplots revolves around $10 million that Capone hid before he was convicted. The sad thing is that he cannot remember where he is. The feds keep watching him too, just to see if he is still pulling any strings.Stream it on Hulu.
3The Equalizer 3 (2023)
The Equalizerfranchise seems like it has been milked to dryness, but there are always a few more drops left. InThe Equalizer 3, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) decides to settle in the tiny Italian seaside town of Altamonte after being saved from a near-death experience by a friendly doctor. Shortly into his stay, he discovers that the residents are being terrorized by the Camorra. Angry, he grants himself the responsibility of taking down the mob outfit by himself.
A Mockery Fest
A case can be made for Robert McCall being more interesting than John Wick because of how he talks. He doesn’t just beat up baddies, he mocks them in a manner that borders on the poetic. Here, he maintains the same energy. “ We all end up where we are supposed to be,” he says about a group of gangsters who have cornered him, yet they have positioned themselves so poorly that it’ll be easy for him to gun them all down in quick succession.
He figures they are standing in those specific spots because they are dumb. Above all, crime isn’t glorified inThe Equalizer 3. Camorra members get boots to the chin and bullets to the spine — the kind of treatment they deserve in real life.Stream it on Netflix.
The Equalizer 3
2Wildland (2020)
Wildlandintroduces viewers to 17-year-old Ida (Sandra Guldberg Kampp). She is a typical teenager who enjoys doing things that trigger Hulk-like rage in her mother. Sadly, the caring woman dies in a road accident, forcing Ida to move in with her aunt and three sons. Soon, she learns that her new guardian isn’t the Florence Nightingale type. She is more of a Griselda Blanco. In the eyes of the public, she is a business owner, but in secret, she is the matriarch of a powerful Danish crime family. Ida thus becomes conflicted about whether to join in on the activities or look for another way to survive.
A Fun But Familiar Tale
Crime genre buffs will find some similarities betweenWildlandandRobert DeNiro’sBloody Mama, which tells the story of the Depression-era crime queenpin, Ma Barker. There are also some traces of the TNT drama,Animal Kingdomin this Danish film. However, it distinguishes itself from those two projects by showing the events from the eyes of a morally conflicted character rather than one who is fully immersed in crime. Ida does her best to fit into the family.
Because she is the innocent-looking one, she gets used as bait when it comes to kidnapping the family members of her aunt’s enemies. But she eventually grows tired of watching her cousins breaking jaws, so she makes a choice that almost destroys the empire her aunt has built.Stream it on Kanopy.
1Hell Dogs (2022)
There are traces ofDonnie BrascoinHell Dogs— a Japanese film that also involves a lawman going undercover in a mafia organization. Here, Shogo “Tak” Kanetaka (Jun’ichi Okada) doesn’t have much of a choice. He is informed that he will possibly be singled out as a sacrificial lamb for the child murders that happened because of the police’s incompetence. The only way he can avoid that is if he infiltrates the mob outfit responsible for the murders and brings it down. As expected, he gets to work by first singling out the most unstable mobster as his entry point.
Classic Eccentric Villains
A movie is only as good as its villains, and Hell Dogs has plenty of great ones. There is a Yakuza boss who can spot danger from miles away, a careless young gangster who loves grabbing beer bottles more than guns, and another Don whose nose was ripped apart, so he has to wear a shark skin mask at all times.
The fashion choice makes him all the more intimidating. Besides that, there are no heroes. Tak is just as morally flawed as the men he is after. The typical “Please don’t kill me! I have a family!” plea from cornered enemies doesn’t move him. He shoots and keeps moving.Stream it on Netflix.
