Sopranos Reboot Causes Critics To Squabble Over Mixed Reviews

The reviews for “The Many Saints of Newark” have started coming in, and critics can’t seem to reach a concensus about the Sopranos prequel.

While The Many Saints of Newark was expected to be a sort of origin story for Tony Soprano, it has subverted those expectations. While most critics have praised Michael Gandolfini’s performance as a younger Tony, the film focuses more on the wider Soprano crime family.

Mike Ryan, writing for Uproxx, noted that while the movie is not a Tony Soprano origin story, it places Tony as an observer. This is a sentiment echoed by Entertainment Weekly’s Leah Greenblatt, who notes that Michael Gandolfini’s “tender, awkward Tony, too, is largely there to bear witness.”

However, Collider’s Matt Goldberg says that “if you approach the film simply through the eyes of young Tony Soprano, you’ll likely be disappointed.” The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey, on the other hand, had a completely different opinion.

It’s not all that necessary to be acquainted with The Sopranos to enjoy its feature-length prequel, The Many Saints of Newark. What it demands from its audience is only this: an understanding that there is no innocence among the powerful, and that men too often carry on the burdens of their forefathers.

The Independent’s Clarisse Loughrey,

While the reviews are polarized due to a lack of balance between the prequel being a prequel and the nostalgia from fans, The Many Saints of Newark proves to be more than just a story for a young Tony Soprano & the origin story for Soprano crime family.

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