Gangster Squad:
In LA in the 1940's, mobs and gangs rule the streets. The police chief has had enough of dirty cops and brutal violence, so he recruits the war vet and clean-cut Sergeant John O'Mara, who must collect five or sex men to create a gangster-hunting squad to take down mobster Mickey Cohen's operations. Meanwhile, O'Mara's young, smooth-talking, pretty-boy friend Jerry has a love affair with Cohen's girlfriend Grace. The film isn't really very smart, but is a hell of a lot of fun. It pulls no punches, but doesn't throw too many surprises. Me and my friend were watching the film and went "That inspiring comment that guy made will become important later on in the film", or "I bet that guy's gonna die and it's going to be a tragic loss." It's predictable, but it's simplicity is one of it's strong points. I've been growing tired of films like Killing Them Softly, which take themselves so seriously and are trying to be so intellectual and realistic they start to become slow, uninteresting, and too drawn-out. I'm glad we have a flashy, gory, violent popcorn movie to put a little fun back into the crime genre. It's only about 2 hours, but it delivers everything it promises. It delivers flashy gunfights, brutal and gruesome scenes of violence, cool car chases, and some subtle humor. Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling give some bad-ass lead performances, and I'll never watch a Sean Penn movie the same way again after his portrayal of the rotten, violent, psychotic, brutal, vengeful, mean, and pure evil gangster Mickey Cohen. The film also has some big name stars in it, like Nick Nolte (48 Hours, Cape Fear, The Thin Red Line, The Good Thief), Emma Stone (Superbad, The Help, Zombieland, Crazy Stupid Love, The Amazing Spiderman), Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), Michael Pena (Crash, 30 Minutes or Less, World Trade Center, End of Watch), Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Faculty, The Sopranos, Cop Land, Die Hard 2, Spy Kids, The X-Files, Wayne's World), Giovanni Ribisi (The Gift, The Mod Squad, Ted, Avatar, Sky Captain, Saving Private Ryan), Jon Polito (Miller's Crossing), and Josh Pence (The Social Network). The music is pretty cool, an old gangster movie flare to it. It reminds me of the successful and epic detective game LA Noire from two years ago. The action scenes are spectacular and stylized, in an almost Zack Snyder style. There is a gun fight in the finale with some beautiful slow motion shots. There are also other breathtaking scenes like the thrilling car chase where the heroes must dodge gunfire, home-made grenades, and other cars on the highway. There's also the spectacular club raid, the gangster squad montage showing their good deeds, and the brutal gunfight in Chinatown. The violence is over-the-top and gut-wrenching. Guys are burned alive, killed by power drills, shredded by bullets, blown up, and torn apart by cars. Although some lovable characters die, it's a happy ending, and the men responsible for the lovable characters' murders are brought to justice. Gangster Squad is a fun surprise, with violent and thrilling action, some fun characters, and subtle humor. There's not too much deep character development, but it doesn't need it. It's a fun gangster romp, and if it had come out in September like it was supposed to, it would have made my top 20 list. 4/5 stars.
(Side notes: Both Giovanni Ribisi and Josh Brolin appear in The Mod Squad. Another piece of interesting trivia is that in the Award-winning film Milk, Sean Penn portrays the hero and Josh Brolin portrays the troubled villain.)
(Images: Google, Wikipedia)
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