A chronicle of the LAPD's fight to keep East Coast Mafia types out of Los Angeles in the 1940s and 50s.
This is sloppy filmmaking, and we don’t like failure in this outfit. Sure, I know how it is. These things happen. Now pass me the knuckledusters.
The film feels like it’s content merely to imitate and comes across as far inferior to Brian De Palma's masterpiece. Fleischer, though, just about gets away with it thanks to his cast, who work hard to compensate for such shortcomings.
For all the guns and gore, it's as breezy and uncritical as a tale from the True Detective magazine that the cops can't help reading.
With a cast including Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn and Nick Nolte, star wattage ought to be this flick’s strength, the director doesn’t know how to harness what he’s got.
This is elegantly diverting entertainment with a handsome cast who effortlessly inhabit their stylish period tailorings.
If it sounds a bit like The Untouchables then that's fine by Gangster Squad, which sets no great store by freshness or nuance.
Only Penn, who gets to work out a lot of anger management issues, really looks as if he is having fun.
Sean Penn’s not been this fun since Jeff Spicoli and there’s plenty of rip-roaring action, but Gangster Squad proves a minor entry in the annals of LA noir.
There's not a scintilla of reality or innovation in the whole live-action cartoon, but it is possible to admire the gusto with which its director, Ruben Fleischer, shovels on the clichés. Not even Mickey Cohen is as gleefully blatant about his thieving as Gangster Squad is.
There are a few good lines here and there...but the story has little connection to reality.
Though comparable to The Untouchables, Gangster Squad isn’t in the same league. Fun in a cartoonish way, yes, but the cast and potential are so wasted that you’ll come out with a strong desire to re-watch Brian De Palma’s classic. Or L.A. Confidential. Maybe even Mulholland Falls…
General release. Check local listings for show times.