Despite having a stellar cast and incredible action sequences, “Gangster Squad” was a total bore. (Poster property of Village Roadshow Pictures & Warner Bros. Studios)
By: Jacob Elyachar
I had high hopes for Gangster Squad when I saw the previews but it turned out to be a disappointment.
Gangster Squad focuses on how six Los Angeles Police Department officers teamed up to take down the infamous mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) during the 1950s.
There were only three impressive performances that came out of this movie including Penn’s tour-de-force portrayal of the infamous mob kingpin, Ryan Gosling as the snarky Sergeant Jerry Wooters and Emma Stone’s take on Cohen’s moll Grace Faraday. The rest of the cast, even Nick Nolte, were boring to watch.
I remember talking to a friend of mine once the film was done and he stated that it seemed like he seen this type of movie before. He was absolutely right because there were elements from multiple gangster films that will have moviegoers ponder: “Where have I seen this before?”
Even though the story and a majority of the acting performances were boring, the action sequences made up for some of this average movie. Some of the sequences include the Gangster Squad’s battle in Chinatown to the epic final confrontation were amazing but only salvaged 40-percent of the film.
Final thoughts and grade: There are currently many amazing movies out and I think that you should wait to see Gangster Squad when it comes out on Netflix. D+
