Movie Review: Gangster Squad
This is a film we’ve seen before. This is a film we’ll see again. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s a bad film; it’s still quite enjoyable. It’s just not original in the least bit.
Gangster Squad takes us to a city that is under the rule of a murderous crook (seen it before), where crime runs rampant (seen it before), and where the men who can do something about it are either bought out or rubbed out (seen it before). But lo and behold! There is a small group of men who are fed up with the corruption that plagues their city (seen it before). We have:
- the police chief who still remains loyal to the cause (seen it before)
- the idealistic sergeant who will stop at nothing to bring justice to those who deserve it (seen it before)
- the caring (and pregnant!) wife who is terrified for her husband’s safety, but knows she won’t be able to change his mind (seen it before)
- the apathetic sergeant who has given up on the idea of toppling the city’s gangsters until the death of someone he cares makes it a personal matter (seen it before)
- the vixen who catches the eyes of one of our heroes, but is in dangerously close with the wrong crowd (seen it before)
- the family man who wants his child to grow up in a better world (seen it before)
- the rag-tag group of police officers with their quirks and special skills (seen it before)
- the black guy (duh)
It would be very easy to label this movie is just a recycled storyline with some new packaging on it, but that would be selling it short. What keeps Gangster Squad from slipping into mediocrity is its anything-but-mediocre cast. With a star-studded lineup of Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Giovanni Ribisi, Robert Patrick, and Anthony Mackie, these cookie-cutter characters are given a bit of new life.
Any scene featuring the whole of the titular Gangster Squad is just a pleasure to watch. The actors play off each other extremely well and their sense of camaraderie (and mutual disdain for Burbank) comes across very naturally. On the other end of the spectrum, Sean Penn is able to exemplify the mobster persona to such a high degree that the lack of memorable supporting antagonists in the film isn’t that much of an issue. But it still would have been nice to have more of an evil ensemble than Mickey Cohen, “the guy with the weird eye,” and “the other bad guy.”
Despite the fact that these are the same archetypal characters we’re used to seeing, this talented group of actors, a few awesomely violent action sequences, and some really snazzy outfits are able to provide us with an experience that, while not anything new, is definitely still entertaining. With a better screenplay to work with we could have had something really amazing, but this will do.
Grade: B-
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