The crime drama is undoubtedly one
of my favorite genres, but where heist capers have been a prevalent presence in
recent years, the subgenre of the mob film has been noticeably scarce. 2009’s Public
Enemies and 2012’s Lawless
certainly had potential, but neither lived up to their respective critical and
financial expectations…it looked like the glory days of The Godfather, Goodfellas,
and Casino were going to continue on
as nothing more than a distant memory.
But then, the trailer for Gangster
Squad hit, and between the brutal concept, the all-star cast, and the
featured presence of my future wife, I could not wait to see the gritty story
that would be presented to audiences.
Unfortunately, in the wake of the Aurora shooting, Warner Bros. had to
pull scenes from the trailer and the final prints, resulting in a delayed
release so the cast could reconvene for the filming of new scenes; so
moviegoers would have to wait a few more months. As the first of a number of high-profile
January releases, Gangster Squad
looked like the perfect popcorn flick to charm audiences and to help rebalance
the box office after so many Awards-heavy releases over the holidays.
Fun and undeniably entertaining, Gangster Squad offers enough brutal
violence and cops-versus-robbers dynamics to keep moviegoer attention, but
beyond those metrics, other weaknesses prevail.
Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling are definitely capable as no-holds-barred
heroes, and their squad of supporting characters feature many familiar faces,
but the paper-thin personalities offer little, if any, individual character
development. The underuse of Emma Stone
was disappointing, but one of the biggest mistakes had to be the disparity
between Sean Penn’s strong performance as a feared mob kingpin, and his
laughably bad makeup. And if you
consider yourself a regular connoisseur of the mob film subgenre, it isn’t too
difficult to pick-out the overly familiar and convenient plot points that keep
energy low and showcase the screenwriters really didn’t take much of a risk
with this script. Still, beyond some of
the more glaring inconsistencies, Gangster
Squad still remains an attention-grabber and nostalgic throwback that can
remain rewarding for fans of the cast and the subject material.
