WTF!!! I understand just by watching the flick that it wasn’t meant to be taken seriously, but did it have to copy every detective movie cliche on earth? I guess imitation is the best form of flattery and this film has it spewed all over the place. From the voice over narration explaining about the sacrifices of being a detective to the actual squad itself formed by token stereotypes. Then there’s Sean Penn doing his best de Niro impersonation from The Untouchables. He even has the same “I want his family dead.” monologue delivered with similar intensity. It looks like he had a lot of fun in the role of Mickey Cohen, who’s character had an interesting gimmick in the film. When any of his lackeys screw up, he sympathizes with them. Lets them know that everything is alright allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. Then he gives the order to execute them. It worked the first time with comedic results, but he continues to do it multiple times throughout the movie. What amuses me is that his men seem genuinely surprised every time he does this. You’d think after the fourth time, they would expect he’s full of crap and know that he’s going to kill them anyway. Cohen does all this with a bad ass persona permanently sealed in his expression. Mainly because he can’t move his face. The prosthetics that Sean Penn wears make him a walking wax figure because his facial muscles can’t work congruently with his mouth movements. This may be important considering the script gives him more one liners than a procedural cop show.
Now, there are aspects to like about this film. There’s action, but more importantly there’s action, action and more action. In fact, it’s the only thing that drives the film because if you were to strip this away, the plot of the movie can be summarized in 10 minutes of dialogue. Mickey Cohen is a bad man who’s turning Los Angeles into a corrupt town. Therefore, the LAPD forms a secret squad to work outside the confines of the law to catch him. Sound familiar? Because it was all said in the trailer. The film doesn’t go any deeper than that. Don’t get me wrong. The action is quite good. All the way to the last battle sequence which culminates in an all out gun battle between the Gangster Squad and Mickey Cohen with his henchmen.
***Spoiler Alert!***
Everyone gets a Tommy Gun in the final act. Cohen and his men have Tommy Guns and the Gangster Squad show up...with Tommy Guns. Where the hell did they come from? I don’t know because it’s not like they used them anywhere else in the movie. It’s as if Oprah showed up on set and screamed, “WHO WANTS TO HAVE A TOMMY GUN?”, then starts throwing them out to all the cast members crying out, “YOU GET A TOMMY GUN!” to each one. It’s only Robert Patrick’s cowboy character who silently refuses and sticks to his pistol because he’s too cool for that.
Gangster Squad is a far cry from the type of movie expected from two Oscar worthy lead actors in the starring roles and quite honestly there are better films out there that dealt with this time period. If you want a serious take, L.A. Confidential is recommended. If you want an over the top interpretation, view The Untouchables. Only watch this movie if you want something awkwardly in between because while it’s not entirely unwatchable, it’s was entertaining for all the wrong reasons.
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