Review: Gangster Squad

Review: Gangster Squad

A stunning script, morally two-dimensional characters and a realistic portrayal of post-war Los Angeles - at least, that's what Gangster Squad wants to be.

Instead, director Ruben Fleischer of Zombieland fame offers us a tale of guns, guns and, er, more guns. This time with added Gosling!

See, the problem with Gangster Squad isn't a lack of enjoyability. The action is fairly exciting, even if none of it makes any sense whatsoever (if you're so desperate to put this bad guy in cuffs, why challenge the former boxer to a fistfight when you have the upper hand?) and the ensemble cast containing Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone and Sean Penn are on top form. Penn consistently chews up the scenery while Gosling and Stone reunite for some enjoyable chemistry but despite this, the rest of the characters are horribly underplayed meaning that when inevitable fatalities occur, we find it hard to really feel anything other than the ringing in our ears.

The noise kicks off right away, as in the opening scene Mickey Cohen (Penn) insists that LA will soon belong to him and his cronies before some unfortunate thug is ripped apart by two cars. Soon after, Brolin's Sgt. John O' Mara slices off another luckless gangster's fingers in an elevator.

So far, so good. A mobster movie without violence is like a pencil with no lead. However, after this exciting opening, Gangster Squad barely makes a lasting impression other than encouraging Emma Stone's status as arguably the most sizzling actress of the last few years.

In the red corner, Sean Penn hardly stops screaming and while the prosthetics-wearing actor clearly enjoys playing Cohen, he unfortunately manages to overshadow the rest of the cast.

In the blue corner, we have Brolin playing O' Mara, a reputable LA police sergeant tasked with rounding up a squad of individuals handy with a gun in order to go "off the books" and take down Cohen on his own dirty terms. Think Nick Fury recruiting The Avengers, LA style. 

So he assembles his team consisting of Ryan "sexiest man ever" Gosling, a frustratingly underused Michael Pena, Robert Patrick (who replaced Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston), Anthony Mackie and Giovanni Ribisi. Whilst the actors do seem to have plenty of fun in their tommy gun-wielding roles, their characters are sadly underdeveloped. Gosling gets the best moments, particularly in his unfortunately brief exchanges with Emma Stone's Grace Farriday ("I was just hoping to take you to bed"), but he and Brolin are the only two in the squad who seem to have a decent back story and a reason for fighting.

On the surface at least, there's plenty to admire. It looks authentic, from the costumes, tommy guns and automobiles, and the action is exciting enough to drag the relatively straightforward plot through its swift running time. When Brolin and Gosling stand side by side raining bullets on to the bad guys, it's hard not to feel as though you're witnessing something, well, awesome. The stand out scene comes in the shape of a 40's Fast and Furious-esque car chase which simply oozes style and gives the squad a chance to show off their skills. 

This is all superficial, however, and unfortunately doesn't detract from the fact that Gangster Squad is a hollow, predictable and unmemorable action flick rather than the Untouchables of the 21st century.

Summary

It looks great, it's well acted and the story is well paced ensuring that Gangster Squad never feels slow. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling are given some fantastic scenes, while Josh Brolin shows a knack for playing the leading man. The action scenes are exciting to watch, but unfortunately they feel shallow as we feel very little for the one dimensional characters. Sean Penn as Mickey Cohen definitely enjoys the role and seems to get the most screen-time, which means he ends up winning us over with his performance before the rest of the cast can even get a foothold. Gangster Squad is all style and no substance which results in an easily forgettable, albeit temporarily fun, piece of movie escapism.

6/10 - Not Bad

See it if you liked: The Departed (2006), Public Enemies (2009), Drive (2011)