Gangster Squad

The year is 1949 and Los Angeles is being run by mob king Mickey Cohen. Now, a secret team of detectives and cops form together to bring him down and bring peace back to the streets.

Gangster Squad was a nice romp back to the days where detectives said funny lines, smoked indoors and held tommy guns. Here is a film that looks slick with a nice polish, a great ensemble cast and a story that has enough meat to it for us to chew on. Yet, people seem to be hating on it. Did they all expect another Untouchables? Sure, Gangster Squad has moments where the inspirations from past films peep through, but not once did this film try to be more than the sum of its means. Gangster Squad is a fun film, has thrilling moments and will entertain you.

Josh Brolin plays Sgt. John O'Mara, a tough as nails cop who is willing to put his life on the line for truth and justice. This annoys his very pregnant wife, who seems ready to pop at any moment. She takes it upon herself to help form the team he needs in order to protect him. The team involves: Anthony Mackie, an officer who is deadly with a knife, Giovanni Ribisi, a smart wire tapper, Robert Patrick, an ace with a pistol and his protégé Michael Peña whose eager to learn. The last addition to the team is the young, hot and dangerous Ryan Gosling, who seems to have found himself entangled with the mob king, Cohen's gal, played by Emma Stone.

There are obvious moments in the film where it tips its hat to predecessors like L.A. Confidential and the more obvious, The Untouchables. There is even a sequences involving a stairwell, although not as tense and more by the numbers shoot em up, the sequence is still one of the exciting pieces in the film. Both those films are more intricate with plot, characters and structure, by a mile. Gangster Squad doesn't focus on stuff like that, it wants to thrill you. Which is why some sequences in which we are suppose to care whether our characters live or die don't really pan out.

It has a graphic novel feel to it, very film noir and for those who've played L.A. Noir, will get the same sense of style. While the film looks great in a lot of sequences, that same style has some short comings, mainly the use of CGI as movement for the camera. It's the most noticeable, at least for me, in two scenes. With Josh Brolin in an elevator early on fighting two crooked guys and the second is when Ryan Gosling decides to pull his gun out in the middle of a club. The second scene in question is in slow motion and focuses mainly on his face, but the jarring background movement opposed to the steadiness of his face is just that, jarring and it takes you out of the film and makes you realize you are watching a film.

Everyone plays their roles respectively well, even if the team seems one dimensional. Sean Penn hams it up in a role that demands him to overact. The make up may distract some, but it added to the character for me. He was the one who seemed to have the most fun with his role. A lot of people scream style over substance and this may be true in some cases. I for one never went into the film expecting writing of another calibre and thus I found myself enjoying it a tad more.

There are some laughable scenes due to how cliché they are. One involves a character throwing their badge away into the water and another has the classic, character yelling another character's name as they walk away, when that person stops and turns, no one says a word. Moments like these that are played out in numerous films make me yawn and roll my eyes.

So go into Gangster Squad with an open mind, don't expect greatness, just a fun ride.

In 1949, in Los Angeles, the ambitious and ruthless kingpin Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) controls drugs, prostitution and gambling and has the local judge and police department in his pocket. When Sergeant John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) busts Mickey's brothel to rescue a naive newcomer in town, Police Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) summons him and offers to O'Mara to form an unofficial unit to destroy Mickey's facilities and shipments to take him down.

O'Mara and his wife select four incorruptible cops to work with him. Then a fifth police officer joins the team in the beginning of a war against Mickey's empire of crime.

"Gangster Squad" is an entertaining movie based on the biography of the powerful and violent gangster Meyer Harris "Mickey" Cohen. This criminal indeed ended his days in Alcatraz but years later, sentenced twice for tax evasion and not for murder. Unfortunately the true story was not written this way.

The cast is magnificent, with names such as Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Robert Patrick, Giovanni Ribisi among many others and the art direction and costumes is also excellent. The plot has many clichés and works like a cartoon, with the bullets occasionally hitting the heroes, but all of that is part of the entertainment. Fans of "The Untouchables" will certainly enjoy this effective gangster movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Caça aos Gângsteres" ("Hunting Down the Gangsters")

Well, after seeing such low ratings in Rottentomatoes and Metacritic, I was thinking in missing this one out, but I'm glad I didn't. IMDb isn't usually the most reliable source, but at a 7 and with it's casting I decided to give it a go. I went with a low expectations, but it turned out to be a very entertaining flick. Great actors, good rhythm and a pretty good story. Sean Penn looked like it had born a gangster, and the action scenes where solid. Really can't understand why critic's wise, it's regarded as nothing worth, specially considering on how bad so many celluloid is coming out of Hollywood. IMDb is spot on this time, it's a straight 7, and a good one!!!

When you pick actors as good as all of these that were picked here, no matter the decency of the movie, you get a winning formula. I like mob stories, mafia movies and crime thrillers, so this was a match made in heaven for me. Both the protagonists and the antagonist were acting amazing, the story was pretty decent, the action was great, the style of the movie was retro and original at the same time. I think that this movie deserves at least a 7/10.

Glossy, slick, bloody, violent, dumb, crowd-pleasing, and undeniably entertaining. Filled with every gangster genre cliché rolled into one, GANGSTER SQUAD ain't high art, nor is it aiming to be. It seemed as if director Fleischer was trying to tell this story in the most fun possible way, and he succeeds with flying colors. The film is at its best when its loud and dumb but falters when it tries to be anything more than that.

The cast seems like they're having fun, especially Sean Penn who has a field day with his role as the villain Mickey Cohen. The lines he's given are pure gold. Josh Brolin does a great job as the lead and Ryan Gosling is charming and charismatic as usual. However, Emma Stone is underused with a thankless role, but it's nice that she's in the film anyway. Overall, GANGSTER SQUAD is fun entertainment. No judgments, little pretense.