Hollywood. A place people dream of. A place where aspiring actors and actresses go in hopes of living out their fantasies. A place where big movies are made, and the makers are proudly paid. The place where Gangster Squad was created, and was the setting.
The flaw of Hollywood made, straight to the cinema films is that sometimes the looks, stars and big budget appeal are the main focus, forgetting about the important essentials of film-making. If you want to make something memorable, something that will be discussed as truly great, the actual plot has to be extraordinary.
But when it takes a backseat, the problems start to arise. I think Gangster Squad, has that exact flaw. And I honestly believe that is why it was so negatively received by critics, and only liked somewhat by general audiences.
A film like his had all the potential in the world. A great real life story to base it off where members of the FBI created a gangster squad unit, in order to take down a notorious mob-man by the name of Mickey Cohen in the 1940's and 50's.
A star studded cast, with immensely talented actors and actresses. With Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, and Emma Stone, among other well known names, you would think that you are in for something special.
And the acting delivered, with Brolin being a legit, intimidating Sargent, and Penn, a ruthless villain, as examples. The characters themselves were so stock, and written so basic, that the only entertainment came from the sheer acting chops of the talent themselves.
Or how about how beautifully shot the film is? I'm telling, it really was a sight to behold. Hollywood looked like it went into a time warp, and we were back in the year of 1949. Everything from the filming to the make-up, to the costumes, was done with detail, and style to the highest extent.
This could have been another amazing mob movie, for instead of creating that, director Reben Fleischer seemed to go the all out action route instead. Which worked in some cases, as the car chase for example is great fun to watch, but as a whole, it got tiring. Bullets flew everywhere, but no one realistically had an idea how to use a gun except the Officer slash cowboy, Max Kennard character, played by Robert Patrick., who uses a revolver that never misses.
So many misses and so little hits just made shed any realistic aspects, but that does not have to warrant negatively in most cases. Being unrealistic does not make a bad film. Overkill does.
Josh Brolin was tasked with creating a gangster squad, and that he did, employing a black man whose a knife specialist (Anthony Mackie), a cowboy (Robert Patrick), and even a genius strategist (Giovanni Ribisi) as the brains. A ladies man in Gosling, and a rookie Mexican cop, in Michael Pena, round out the team.
Here is the thing, all of the plans, with the exception of one, which was planting a wire in Cohen's house, were just straight destroy and murder enemies. No actually brains, or high tension scenarios, as this squad seemed to be made of superheros battling dumb mafia muscle.
Everything seemed easy, and while not all the good guys make it to the end, you can never emotionally invest in them. The majority of the characters are paper thin, and just doing it to take out the biggest bad guy, quite simply. Gosling, who plays Sergeant James Wooters, is the only one given some story. As well as a boring, far-fetched romance add on, with Emma Stone's character.
Sean Penn may have made a fun, over the top maniac, as the villain Mickey Cohen. However, a great villain needs to be able to one up the good guys, and seem like a threat, but he never actually did. Cohen was only dangerous towards his own men, while the Gangster Squad was able to take out an army with relative ease.
This is a film that ditched going for a classic, for a quick weekend movie hit, and hopes of a taking over the box office. Worth a one time watch for a few, well done action scenes, and beautiful scenery, you can call it a guilty pleasure. But as a DVD to add to your mob movie collection, I am not sure if I can deem it worthy.
The biggest issue with this film is that it had all the potential in the world to be so much more. A rental or a view on Netflix when nothing else is on, will provide a fun at time, but easily forgettable film.
Superpower Film Scale: 2/5
1: Villainous Waste
2: Careless Bystander
3: Hero unaware of powers
4. On the verge of greatness
5. Heroic film
The flaw of Hollywood made, straight to the cinema films is that sometimes the looks, stars and big budget appeal are the main focus, forgetting about the important essentials of film-making. If you want to make something memorable, something that will be discussed as truly great, the actual plot has to be extraordinary.
But when it takes a backseat, the problems start to arise. I think Gangster Squad, has that exact flaw. And I honestly believe that is why it was so negatively received by critics, and only liked somewhat by general audiences.
A film like his had all the potential in the world. A great real life story to base it off where members of the FBI created a gangster squad unit, in order to take down a notorious mob-man by the name of Mickey Cohen in the 1940's and 50's.
A star studded cast, with immensely talented actors and actresses. With Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, and Emma Stone, among other well known names, you would think that you are in for something special.
And the acting delivered, with Brolin being a legit, intimidating Sargent, and Penn, a ruthless villain, as examples. The characters themselves were so stock, and written so basic, that the only entertainment came from the sheer acting chops of the talent themselves.
Or how about how beautifully shot the film is? I'm telling, it really was a sight to behold. Hollywood looked like it went into a time warp, and we were back in the year of 1949. Everything from the filming to the make-up, to the costumes, was done with detail, and style to the highest extent.
This could have been another amazing mob movie, for instead of creating that, director Reben Fleischer seemed to go the all out action route instead. Which worked in some cases, as the car chase for example is great fun to watch, but as a whole, it got tiring. Bullets flew everywhere, but no one realistically had an idea how to use a gun except the Officer slash cowboy, Max Kennard character, played by Robert Patrick., who uses a revolver that never misses.
So many misses and so little hits just made shed any realistic aspects, but that does not have to warrant negatively in most cases. Being unrealistic does not make a bad film. Overkill does.
Josh Brolin was tasked with creating a gangster squad, and that he did, employing a black man whose a knife specialist (Anthony Mackie), a cowboy (Robert Patrick), and even a genius strategist (Giovanni Ribisi) as the brains. A ladies man in Gosling, and a rookie Mexican cop, in Michael Pena, round out the team.
Here is the thing, all of the plans, with the exception of one, which was planting a wire in Cohen's house, were just straight destroy and murder enemies. No actually brains, or high tension scenarios, as this squad seemed to be made of superheros battling dumb mafia muscle.
Everything seemed easy, and while not all the good guys make it to the end, you can never emotionally invest in them. The majority of the characters are paper thin, and just doing it to take out the biggest bad guy, quite simply. Gosling, who plays Sergeant James Wooters, is the only one given some story. As well as a boring, far-fetched romance add on, with Emma Stone's character.
Sean Penn may have made a fun, over the top maniac, as the villain Mickey Cohen. However, a great villain needs to be able to one up the good guys, and seem like a threat, but he never actually did. Cohen was only dangerous towards his own men, while the Gangster Squad was able to take out an army with relative ease.
This is a film that ditched going for a classic, for a quick weekend movie hit, and hopes of a taking over the box office. Worth a one time watch for a few, well done action scenes, and beautiful scenery, you can call it a guilty pleasure. But as a DVD to add to your mob movie collection, I am not sure if I can deem it worthy.
The biggest issue with this film is that it had all the potential in the world to be so much more. A rental or a view on Netflix when nothing else is on, will provide a fun at time, but easily forgettable film.
Superpower Film Scale: 2/5
1: Villainous Waste
2: Careless Bystander
3: Hero unaware of powers
4. On the verge of greatness
5. Heroic film