Gangster Squad - Film Review
Director:
Ruben Fleischer
Writers:
Will Beall , Paul Lieberman (book)
Stars:
Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone
Description:
Los
Angeles, 1949: A secret crew of police officers led by two determined sergeants
work together in an effort to take down the ruthless mob king Mickey Cohen who
runs the city.
It was so long
overdue that I watched this film, as it has the full package of a film that I
love: violence; great acting; great setting and pretty good plot.
I have to say I
thought Sean Penn played his character brilliant. He really captured the personality of Mickey
Cohen and created a character which I ended up hating by the end, but not in a
bad way. It’s a very brutal plot line,
with some good action scenes. I mean
don’t get me wrong, I love a good shoot out, but sometimes you do think, how
can they miss him? Do you know what I mean?
I know its film, so I love believing it, but the “gangster squad” had
quite a few lucky misses throughout the film, with only a few exceptions. But I especially loved the fist fight at the
end, thought it had a great build, and loved to finally watch Mickey Cohen
properly box.
I also liked the side
plot of Jerry (Ryan Gosling) and Gracey (Emma Stone), it switched up the pace,
from it always being about violence. And
I have to say I love them two together, and from them being in ‘Crazy, Stupid,
Love’ together (btw great film, if your into that sort of thing), to this, I am
just going to carry on waiting for the next one.
Overall, great acting,
especially from Sean Penn and Josh Brolin, but a generally fantastic cast, and
as Emma Stone had the only female prominent role, I thought she really held her
own in a male dominant film. And to top it all off, it had some great
fighting/shooting scenes. I personally,
really enjoyed watching it, however, if violence isn’t your cup of tea, I’d
maybe skip this one. But you should
still watch it, purely for Ryan Gosling ;)