Gangster Squad

It’s shallow kitsch, without much in terms of wisdom from the screenwriter, but it’s still watchable, thanks mainly to the good cast, the nice visuals and the craftsmanship. Sean Penn’s main evil gangster, though, feels like self-parody; his attempts at looking insane and maniac were funny – but that also contributed to my experience as a viewer, which I would describe as satisfactory. It’s unlikely that I will watch Gangster Squad again (not alone, at least), but I didn’t feel any acute need to get as far away from the screen as possible. (03/04/2013)

Six brave and incorruptible men against one serious candidate for plastic surgery and a stay in a psychiatric clinic. I wouldn’t have been bothered at all by Fleischer’s attempt to adapt this strange mix of gangster and noir motifs to the tastes of comic-book readers and gamers if the film wasn’t a failure on more basic levels: development of the characters, creation of dramatic tension, logic of action, consistency of atmosphere. The whole film consistently adheres to comic-book stylisation in the mould of Dick Tracy (from which Penn’s psychotic troll most likely escaped), and I won’t mention the ill-considered violence of numerous scenes, and the fascist methods of the “hunters” (who, unlike the protagonists of De Palma’s The Untouchables, obviously have no moral inhibitions) aren’t worthy of comment. However, the inclination toward heroic pathos is much more common than the deliberate parodying of the genre. Though they look good on the posters, they are also as flat as the posters as they pay the price for going from one extreme to the other. Neither the content nor the manner of storytelling offers anything that could draw us in or make us fear for the protagonists characters, or at least spark our interest in how the story will continue. As a brutally straightforward and straightforwardly brutal shoot ’em up (unfortunately with supremely unclear action scenes, including the fistfights), Gangster Squad can make for a pleasant evening, but it also leaves a bitter aftertaste. I consider the failure to make a better film with such an excellent cast, an Oscar-winning cinematographer and a highly capable soundtrack composer to be an act of Hollywood-style organised crime. 65% (02/02/2013)

After the first negative reactions, I was expecting some kind of dud, but it’s actually made very differently than I thought. No Scorsese and his typical precision, no De Palma and the great psychology of the characters, it’s only genre fan Ruben Fleischer who drew a Thompson on a paper instead of writing a script, shoved it into the hands of a bunch of top-notch actors, and let them go at it for nearly two hours in a style rivalled only by the recent Expendables 2. And all this against the backdrop of a very authentic retro atmosphere and Jablonsky's catchy soundtrack, which gives the action scenes more pizzazz. There’s one cliché after another, all the actors, except for the extremely scene-chewing Penn, get by with two expressions, and Emma Stone is just eye-candy that we could have done without this time. But, and this is quite important from my point of view in a product of film ENTERTAINMENT, you don't get bored for a moment. Admittedly, it’s a kind of guiltier entertainment, where we're well aware that we're witnessing an over-the-top, over-stylized and overly stupid Hollywood affair, but its negative impact on my humble viewing intelligence was ultimately not as overwhelming as I had feared. 65% (27/02/2013)

This modern approach is inappropriate. Moreover, Sean Penn completely overacted and Cohen became just a weird caricature. Thank God the casting of the team who are meant to lend him a hand is top-notch. Brolin is wonderfully obstinate, Gosling gives a standard performance and the Kurt-like Robert Patrick as the last gun-fighter in L.A. It lacks sophistication and intelligence, and modern slow-motion effects are sometimes impressive, but they begin to be bothersome after a while. A popcorn gangster movie cannot be filmed. Maybe it’s a also shame that the notorious scene in the movie theater disappeared. (09/04/2013)

Shallow popcorn flick that lacks the soul, the atmosphere and that one memorable scene that have always made the gangster genre so attractive and rewarding to viewers. There are many moments, especially the last ten minutes, that were written following the manual "How to make an unwanted parody of a genre quickly and easily." The only thing that keeps it afloat is Josh Brolin’s manly charisma. On the whole, it's as routine and stupid as Zombieland, which I expected from Fleischer, so there's no question of disappointment. And please, don’t give me that “Inspired by a True Story” line. (11/04/2013)