Gangster Squad Review

Gangster Squad is the latest picture from Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) that's had a lot of problems along the way.  Originally slated for a September release, the film was pushed back to account for the tragedy in Aurora.  There was a shootout in the film that took place in the famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre, which the cast and crew decided would be distasteful towards the victims, so they had to reshoot it.  Then flash-forward to today, this finally released "passion project" that Fleischer had a difficult time convincing the stars and producers to make ended up not doing so well at the box office, performing third under the mature award-buzz flick Zero Dark Thirty and the Paranormal Activity spoof from Marlon Wayans, A Haunted House.  Plus, the actual movie kind of sucks too.

The story is about real-life gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), who basically owns all of Los Angeles.  Josh Brolin plays a police officer summoned by Nick Nolte to create a squad of officers to stop him (including Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Giovanni Ribisi, Michael Peña, and Robert Patrick).

I think this film should have been retitled "Film Noir for Dummies."  If it weren't for the excess amount of blood and gore, I think this cleaned-up version of 1940's Los Angeles looks like it was made for children.  Everything about this film falls flat.  The plot lacks any tension whatsoever, and the stakes aren't clear.  Sean Penn is going all-out as a cartoonish Rocky and Bullwinkle-styled villain that's hard to take seriously.  Ryan Gosling is doing some high-pitched thing with his voice that doesn't fit at all with the character.  His relationship with Emma Stone lacks any of the chemistry they shared in Crazy, Stupid, Love.

There is so much wasted talent and potential in Gangster Squad.  Before his film career, Fleischer was a music video director, which is easy to tell for he uses the worst techniques imaginable here.  Slo-mo bullets, over-use of effects, and a too-polished-for-real-life look really hinder the film.  It's a shame because his first film Zombieland, featured some of the best uses of slow motion I've seen in a long time (especially during its amazing opening credits sequence); it's too bad he couldn't have found new ways to show off his techniques here, where he often resorts to the standard bullet shells flying.  Film noir is supposed to be dark and gritty (the actual term literally means "black film"), so something just felt bland about this movie to me.  It felt more like an exercise for Fleischer than a film with any kind of meaning behind it. It's not necessarily a poorly put together film (you'd have no idea scenes were cut and re-shot), but it's incredibly mediocre considering the talent involved. Disappointing on every level.

Rating: C-