Gangster Squad

A simple action movie pretending to be a retro gangster film, where actors are illuminated like mannequins in a store. One or two thrilling scenes, a brisk pace, one-dimensional characters, attractive camera filters and a horribly directed Ryan Gosling. For him to fumble, the director’s skill must be truly abysmal. How could they have gotten such an acting ensemble for this screenplay?! Right between two and three stars, and I’m giving two because it’s a defiling of Sergio Leone and Brian De Palma. (01/24/2013)

An even bigger mistake than expecting Gangster Squad to be the new L.A. Confidential is to watch L.A. Confidential two days beforehand. I don't mind the lemonade game of gangsters, which mainly treads on a 'sunny' note because the actors fit the period suits exactly, cigarettes are smoked countless times, and there are plenty of excuses to get the Thompsons to bark. I can accept all that until Fleischer says he'd like to be the new DePalma and switches from funny conversational humor to serious mode, where he fails utterly. In fact, all the action scenes seem to have been shoehorned into the film as an afterthought, only one of the two female characters is anchored in the plot, and the police unit is carried by Brolin's charisma and Gosling's smile. To top it all off, it features a collection of annoying Hollywood clichés. A well-deserved fail. (01/31/2013)

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. (04/09/2013)

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. (04/03/2013)

A routine affair, but definitely not a complete disaster. It's surprising that a lot of otherwise excellent and very inventive creators and actors are behind this very average film. I enjoyed the raw fights and the decent gunfights, the ultra-cool Penn and the likeable Brolin, though he is much better on the opposite side of the law, like in American Gangster. It's not nearly as intricate, skillfully written, and technically precise as, for example, Ridley Scott’s film, but it's worth seeing once. Purely average. (03/31/2013)