Gangster Squad

The crime film genre is filled many great films, and arguably some of the best, but it has more than it's share of failed attempts. The 2013 action crime film Gangster Squad aimed high with a 1949 period film set in LA when the police force established a small squad to put their badges aside and bring down the criminal kingpin, Mickey Cohen, but despite its best efforts there's something amiss here. 

Directed by Ruben Fleischer, who found success with Zombieland, financial success with Venom without the critical admiration and likely more critical panning with the upcoming Uncharted, Gangster Squad stars Josh Brolin as was veteran tasked by Nick Nolte to establish a rag-tag team to destroy Cohen's monopoly over the city, who is played by an OTT Sean Penn. Joining the squad are Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña and Robert Patrick, and with such a cast that also included Emma Stone, I had some hopes about this film going in. 

The first problem comes with the film being a tonal mess not knowing whether it's a stylised action flick with cartoon like characters or if it wants to be the next L.A. Confidential and then there's the pacing that is so incredibly rushed that there aren't any true scenes to be found in the film. Nolte's briefing is the closest we get but everything else is underdeveloped and fails to capture the late 1940s atmosphere. There's also a phony CGI feel around many of the visuals leading to a disappointing presentation that should be easy on the eye instead of an assault. The final nail is that this is also a very loose adaptation from the real events that make-up the story here and if it can't be entertaining then this needed more time in development.  

Amongst the lacklustre action sequences, Brolin tries his best to inject some personality to the story but with a script so weak, this seem like an unfortunate Hollywood studio effort to put some starry faces on screen with some guns and hope it will make triple its budget at the box office. The period details are a thin façade to a film without any personality or intent of rising any emotions from its audience. Gangster Squad is best left as a forgotten flick from the last decade and is not one I can recommend.