Gangster Squad Reviews

Before this movie was released, there was a pretty good buzz about it but, ultimately, it didn’t turn out to be such a success after all. Still, with such a stellar cast involved, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, even though all the necessary ingredients were present,  I actually had hard time to care about the whole thing. Indeed,  it looked really good, the action scenes were pretty badass and convincing, the cast was really neat and, yet, I was actually rather bored during most of the duration. I think there were basically two reasons.  First,  they never really managed to set a tone. Indeed, even though it was pretty violent,  it was never really dark enough and they kept throwing some oneliners showing that the whole thing shouldn't be taken too seriously so it kept swinging between a violent gangster flick and something lighter and fluffy. The second thing is that it was rather generic and predictable. I mean, it seems that they watched dozens of gangster features, took all the basic elements but they forgot to add an edge, something to make it stand out from the crowd.  To conclude, in spite of its flaws,  I have to admit that it was rather well made and I guess it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.

Everyone just got this wrong . Not a " L.A Confidential " or " The Untouchables " for sure ; but this is a brain-dead , violent comic book on those movies that has it's fun moments .

With a great cast the story was equally powerful, like the movie 'Public Enemy'. Sean Penn and Josh Brolin are the men of the movie, which is all about them and their clash. Ryan Gosling and other gangmens supported well, as expected Emma Stone was just a big name in the cast but not the role she played. Only opening few minutes, it was slow and later parts were very pacy and racy. Some shots were very stylish, men with guns like the movie 'Dick Tracy'. The costume designer and set designers brought the real atmosphere of 50 of Los Angeles including some fine graphics in parts. Well directed by the 'Zombieland' director and this movie should be his best till so far. You know movies always looks fine when the story had men with a gang who are in mission or seek a revenge or robbing banks etc. Definitely entertains us, at least most of them so this movie as well.

The story follows after the second world war in LA, when a most powerful gangster, Mickey, wants all the western territory into his control but a cop stand against his will. The cop form a little gang to fight against his illegal activities, so the small fight turns a war between these two men. And who win and who lose is the end of the movie.

I was not expecting, in fact I was not interested but my friend insisted so saw it. I liked it a lot and I also blamed myself not watching it till now. It was based on a novel and I don't know how much it justified for its book but it is a must see movie that belong to gangster theme. I think it is a little bit underrated everywhere.

Wow this was shit. Everything was so incredibly dull. It used every action cliché there is. It was like it followed a ingredient on how to make a dull and standard action flick.

It looked really cheap and the acting was pretty bland, like noone of the actors didn't care at all, except for Sean Penn, who overacted his role to ridiculousness. Nah stay away from this piece of crap.

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Gangster Squad is loosely based on a true story, about a band of Los Angeles police officers who go undercover as renegade gangsters to take down mob boss Mickey Cohen.
Since the movie claimed at the start that it was inspired by a true story, I was expecting something somewhat serious. What I got instead was a ridiculously over-the-top blast of camp. Right from the opening scenes, the movie made it clear what tone it was going for – the violence was deliriously outrageous – and my expectations plummeted through the floor. It's a movie that basically embraces and glorifies cops chasing gangsters in a pulp fiction kind of way.
The characters are underdeveloped and, sadly, underperformed. Jerry and Grace's relationship falls especially flat.
And the action scenes are poorly edited; in the first couple, I could never tell where anyone was in proximity to each other.
I would have preferred if the movie had gone for a more serious tone, tried to properly represent the true story. But as it stands, it's ludicrous, thoroughly predictable and unimpressive.

My rating: 40%

Gangster Squad is mob mafia movie, where a team of police officer undercover stand up against the Mickey Cohen mob. Mickey a mob king who runs his show to accumulate heaps of money through illicit affairs created havoc in LA. However there is on hitch in his plan that is sgt. John Omara, that teamed up with some other police officer under the cover from LA police chief to hit Mickey hard on the business to cut him down.

A poor rehash of the much better movie version of The Untouchables.
Utterly predictable and it has little in common with the true story that alledgedly inspired it. At times I felt like I was watching a Dick Tracy movie. When Josh Brolin wears a fedora he resembles Dick Tracy and
Sean Penn's makeup makes him look like a member of Tracy's Rogue's Gallery.

"We're losing Los Angeles to an Eastern crook..."

Do not watch 2013's Gangster Squad expecting a meaningful period drama like L.A. Confidential or The Godfather. Instead, this is a hard-hitting, badass gangster action picture with shades of Brian De Palma's The Untouchables. No pretensions exist here; director Ruben Fleischer and screenwriter Will Beall simply set out to create a slick, entertaining big-screen cartoon, and they pull it off with utmost assurance. Gangster Squad also does a great job of paying tribute to the film noirs of yesteryear, with hard-boiled dialogue and characters ripped straight from decades-old gangster films.

In 1949, Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) is a rising force in the criminal underworld, looking to take control of Los Angeles and kill anyone in his way. Fed up with legal attempts to bring Cohen to justice, L.A.P.D. Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) enlists the aid of a decorated war veteran and upstanding cop named John O'Mara (Josh Brolin). John's assignment is to assemble a covert squad of police officers and wage guerrilla warfare against Cohen to drive him out of town. Recruiting Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), Conway Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), Max Kennard (Robert Patrick), Rocky Washington (Anthony Mackie) and Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña), the clandestine "gangster squad" begin attacking Cohen's operations at every turn, halting his flow of drugs, prostitutes and gambling. And because Cohen has half of the L.A. police department in his pocket, Parker permits John to act outside the law - no badges, no warrants and no arrests. However, Jerry strikes up a relationship with Cohen's top girl, Grace (Emma Stone), which complicates the situation, while John's pregnant wife (Mireille Enos) worries about what might happen to her obstinate husband in his mission to bring Cohen down.

Initially slated for a late 2012 release, Gangster Squad was postponed by panicked Warner Bros. executives following the notorious Dark Knight Rises massacre because the film's climax featured a mass shooting in a cinema. Fearing bad public response, the filmmakers were pulled back in to revamp the final third, rewriting the script and conducting reshoots. With this in mind, it is surprising to report how cohesive the finished movie truly is - the reshoot seams are not visible even if you look for them. What is problematic, though, is that fragments of the story seem to have been removed in the cutting room. In particular, Jerry and Grace's relationship feels underdone; they suddenly advance from dalliances to lovers who are ostensibly living together even though they're afraid of having a palpable relationship in case Mickey finds out. Added to this, the titular squad needs more dimension. John and Jerry get the most screen time while the rest of the guys are relegated to the background. The squad's interactions are pure dynamite, and it's terrific fun to watch them engage in shootouts, but there's not enough of either element. As a result, some of the characters feel like wasted opportunities.

Fleischer was also responsible for the unbridled delight that was 2009's Zombieland, and he thankfully brings his competent touch to Gangster Squad. Despite being narratively underdone, the storytelling is surprisingly strong, with Fleischer displaying a firm grasp on pacing. The action set pieces are where the movie truly takes off, though - the shootouts are well-staged, coherent and completely awesome. Gangster Squad also wears its R rating on its sleeve. It is not ultraviolent like a Paul Verhoeven picture, but it does not feel as if any punches are being pulled - when people are shot, bullet hits and blood splashes are visible. It's fantastically fun. Amid the violence and bloodshed, Fleischer also finds time for dark humour, which lightens the atmosphere and makes the production more enjoyable. This is a handsomely mounted flick, too, since it carries a slick, stylised look and the production values are superb, with detailed costumes and sets believably depicting the time and place.

One of the most notable attributes of Gangster Squad is the cast. Leading the pack is Josh Brolin, who ably fulfils protagonist responsibilities with badass confidence. Ryan Gosling, meanwhile, continues to show he's not just the pretty boy from The Notebook. He's a charismatic presence here, and he kicks ass with a firearm. As Mickey Cohen, Sean Penn is more or less an over-the-top Batman villain, but he's enjoyable in the role. Emma Stone plays the token female here, and she does a solid job. Stone is extremely beautiful on-screen, and she looks credible in period garb. Out of the squad members, the most notable is former T-1000 Robert Patrick playing an old-fashioned hard-ass with a fast trigger finger who emanates badassery from every goddamn pore in his body. It is a shame that Patrick is underused, but he has his moments to shine, and said moments are awesome. Nick Nolte also appears as Chief Parker, while Giovanni Ribisi is amiable playing the squad's techie. Rounding out the main players are Michael Peña and Anthony Mackie, who literally just play the token Latina and the token black guy, respectively. More dimension would have been appreciated, but the actors do a decent job with the material.

It is impossible to overstate how badass Gangster Squad really is. It may be a historically inaccurate fantasy that stuffy critics and history buffs will hate, and it would've been nice if the film was on the same level as The Untouchables, which managed to balance excitement with character development, but Gangster Squad is a fine piece of macho, adult action entertainment.

7.9/10