Supported by a strong cast and a superb score, Gangster Squad attempts to replicate a typical gangster style movie and does it well. With unique cinematography and decent action, it takes us back to 1940′s LA for a whole new generation to experience a great Mafia action/crime film.
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Director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland) has acquired an all-star cast for this gangster flick, with Sean Penn playing villain Mickey Cohen who has quickly taken over LA along with his East Coast Mafia. It’s up to Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) to take action and take back control of the city, along with his newly formed Gangster Squad which includes Ryan Gosling as Sgt. Jerry Wooter. Gosling is certainly one of the highlights of the film as he pulls off a classy, pivotal character with ease.
Penn attempts to play Mickey Cohen with some success, although he does feel a bit forced and over the top at times. However, I probably feel that about many characters from old mob movies and he certainly had his moments. I was never a huge fan of Josh Brolin, but I thought he was great as the leader of the Gangster Squad with a real human feel about him. Emma Stone also features and she does look ravishing, playing Cohen’s girl Jean. The other 4 members of the Gangster Squad are played by Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, Anthony Mackie + Robert Patrick and all bring something unique in supporting roles.
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The opening scenes of the film set the scene early, with some unexpectedly brutal and tough scenes. They aren’t too over the top though, with just the right amount of strength to set the feel for the movie. The action throughout is different, I was gripped for the most part and there was some unique cinematography throughout that while I feel worked, some may have found over-stylistic.
A huge highlight for me was the score. I felt that it was timely and gripping, with tracks beginning and transitioning at just the right time between scenes and key moments of the film. It’s not often I find myself thinking that the score is great during a film yet I had the thought quite frequently. It’s also paced well, with the 113 minutes feeling perfect as we only settle into the main story around a third of the way into the film. The humour is a positive too, with some decent laugh out loud moments and some smiles to be had, it is still quite a serious film though.
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It is not the perfect movie and I’m sure many will fault it for being over the top and unrealistic at times. While I agree with this to an extent, I feel that gangster films like this can get away with it and I didn’t find it detracting from the film at all. One problem for me was Nick Nolte, who’s voice is really getting to the point where it is inaudible with such a strong croak. This was a minor issue as he was quite a small character though.
I had a great time with Gangster Squad and I’m sure majority of the public will too. It features great performances from both Josh Brolin and especially Ryan Gosling, who is sure to impress women yet again with his charm and style. I thought the score was perfect, the action entertaining and the film to be stylish enough to take away from the minor fault of it’s realism. A super cast and great direction ensures a great experience to be had! B+
First review of this I’ve seen, glad to hear you liked it because I am really looking forward to seeing it.
Who was your favourite performance in the movie?
Thanks for checking it out Josh, let me know how you find it!
I’m a big Gosling fan (does the header give it away?) so I would have to say him, although Brolin is great too. Some moments that really reminded me of his Drive character, one scene in particular is quite enthralling!
You already saw it? jealous! I wanna see Gosling and Stone together again so bad!
Lol I am probably just as a big a Gosling fan, serious man crush, so glad to hear that
I kinda don’t have an interest to go see it in the theater, the trailer wasn’t very good, though this is an encouraging review! I’m not surprised you mention Penn isn’t the greatest, apparently he is getting terrible reviews for his work here.
Was it better or worse than Lawless?
I think I wanted to like it and therefore I did (if that makes sense), Penn wasn’t the best that’s for sure.
I preferred this much more then Lawless, this is more of a city/action film. Very stylish at times.
Oh that’s awesome. I really disliked Lawless so I’m hoping this one really is better.
Can’t wait to see this one, hopefully I’ll see it on opening day this Thursday.
It’s a shame they had to delete one key scene after the cinema shootings in Aurora, Colorado forced them into reshoots. It’s always a pity when we don’t get to see a movie as it was originally intended.
Was any of this obvious in the film Alex?
Hopefully it lives up to your expectations!
That was a massive shame indeed and I’m really intrigued to see where that scene would have taken place and how it would have affected the film. I don’t think it was obvious at all which is good but there are some scenes that are better then others and I would love to know if the scenes that weren’t as good were the reshoots. Alas we’ll probably never know, but it certainly wasn’t noticeable, at least to me.
I’ll keep an eye out to see if I can pick up anything. Hopefully the DVD will explain all of it, and possibly even include an original cut.
It wasn’t as bad as what the critics were saying. I just found it a bit of fun, nothing special.
Nice review
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