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| Director: Ruben Fleischer (2013) |
I’ll admit, I'm a sucker for films like
Gangster Squad. Much to the delight of the studio, I'm drawn into watching such
a film when the cast is star studded and story is based around true events. It’s
an understandable weakness, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Giovanni
Ribisi, and Ryan Gosling. With actors of such impressive calibre what could
possibly go wrong? As it turns out, a whole lot.
Gangster Squad kicks off in the most
worrisome way; via monologue. While a director like Alexander Payne or Terrence
Malick would use such a device to smoothly set the groundwork for the narrative
or characters, Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland, 30 Minutes or Less) has primary
protagonist John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) talk about badges. The irony of the
situation isn’t fully comprehended until later, when he forms a group of elite,
gangster fighting cops who don’t actually carry said badges. This team, the
‘Gangster Squad’ of the title are formed by Chief Parker (Nick Nolte) to set in
motion the downfall of notorious gangster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), a mob boss
who’s criminal activities are bringing the west coast to its knees.
Unlike most films that owe themselves to the
provocative timeframe that is the the 1940’s, the protagonists don’t fight
Cohen with police warrants and detective like sleuthing, that would require a subtlety
that both script and director simply don’t possess. Fleischer would much rather
blow shit up, and he wastes little time in the assembling of his team of terrors.
Up until this point only O’Mara and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling) have any form
of development or noteworthy appearance. In many ways this is a positive
choice, as Gangster squad functions as a rough and ready action film far more
than it does a drama, which undoubtedly feels like is been tacked on at the
last minute in order to give the false impression of depth.
The action is passable though, despite
lacking any form or originality. Each member of the squad possesses a certain
skill, brawler, gunslinger, gadget expert etc that, while horrendously
unoriginal, adds spice to the shootouts and car chases. Fleischer doesn’t skimp
on said scenes which he excellently places in amongst the beat downs and
downtime. The outcome of these set pieces is almost always predictable, but
they do a fine job of maintaining a firm grip on the audience’s attention. Its
engaging stuff, but anyone hoping for scenes akin to The Dark Knight Rises or
The Raid won’t find anything of the sort here.
It’s a shame that Fleischer relies on
clichés so often when characters guns aren’t blazing. This is most notable with
our antagonist Mickey Cohen, a badly scripted stereotype of a character. Sean
Penn is a phenomenal actor, but here he’s far more interested with wearing a
perpetual sneer and growling with a laughable, animalistic tone. It’s a shoddy
performance, although the script doesn’t give him much to go on considering the
most complex action our villain does is scorn at as many people as possible.
These laughable aspects of Gangster Squad are situated throughout the script,
often tarnishing the atmosphere and tension during critical moments of the
plot. during the climactic shootout in a hotel lobby, Penn pulls a face akin to
a duck chewing on a lemon, loads a Tommy gun, screams “say hello to Santi
Clause!” and engages in a slow motion shootout which includes dozens of
presents and baubles shattering under the impact of hot lead. Its utterly
ridiculous, one example of some of the abhorrent writing that makes up the
majority of the final product.
Gangster squad is a rough and ready film,
punctuated by brutal action and Ryan Gosling reaching into his bottomless pit
of charisma. The script is dire, story development is often overlooked in favour
of another witty one liner and its use of monologuing is atrocious. Yet those
who choose to view Gangster Squad will get exactly what’s on the tin; a stupid
yet stupidly entertaining action flick masquerading as a slick period thriller.
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