BY MICHAEL GOODPASTER
I like Ruben Fleischer’s work and you’d think a cast stacked with Josh Brolin, Sean Penn, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Nick Nolte, Michael Pena, Giovanni Ribisi, and a slew of others would result in an awesome project. On paper it looks awesome. It’s a 1940’s shoot-em up gangster movie with the cool twist of vigilante cops going after the mob. When I first heard about it I assumed it was going to be one of those classy, slow paced, drama type of movies that would see it in the Oscar race. I mean with THAT cast and it being a period piece? Yeah, that’s Oscar bait…. In most cases. Then you see the trailer and you see exactly what it is. Gangster Squad looked like a cross between Dick Tracy and a film noir parody when I first saw the trailer. The way Sean Penn looked was so ridiculous that I thought it was a comic book movie or something a bit more out of the realm of “reality”. That’s not what this movie was about. “Reality” is far from the first word that comes to mind when I think of this movie. Off the top of my head words and phrases like “waste of time”, “craptacular”, or “avoid this” make more sense. It wasn’t the worst movie in the world. It just brought nothing redeeming to the table. I can’t think of really anything about this movie that makes it something I’d recommend. I cannot think of any big moment or scene that stands out. The big finish at the end is a valid conclusion to a valid movie. It’s just “valid”. There is a beginning, a middle, and an thankfully an end. Don’t let this movie confuse you. Just because it’s called “Gangster Squad” don’t get it confused for the classic gangster movies. It would be like a pile of shit calling itself “chocolate” in hopes that chocolate fans flock to it or even reluctantly give it a chance. Either way, avoid this shit. D-
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