Gangster Squad (2013)

I had my reservations about this. I don't really know why, I just wasn't really that interested in going. You can thank the Whalley for me seeing this though. I do love how in the poster you have the three main actors Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, and Sean Penn dominating it, and then Emma Stone has been squeezed into the corner.

Sort of based on real events, we find Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) has effectively taken over Los Angeles, with plans to take over the entire western coast. Police Chief Bill Parker (Nick Nolte) calls upon Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) to put together an off-the-books squad to take on Cohen in a guerrilla style war.

This film, is a lot of fun.

The film says it's based on real life events. Well Mickey Cohen existed. The thing is the only reason the authorities managed to put Cohen in Alcatraz was for tax evasion. But don't let that put you off, there's plenty of action and drama in it to keep you entertained, as well as some humorous and emotional moments as well. The film runs smooth, I'd describe it as beautiful to watch, it's slick, it's fast, it's great.

And that's helped along by some really amazing characters. From the sociopathic Cohen to the determined O'Mara, to the family man Keeler (Giovanni Ribsi). This film makes you care for the characters, and that is a mark for truly remarkable character development. Cohen and his right hand man Lennox (Holt McCallany) show that they are some of the most despicable characters in cinematic history, and yet they are characters you love to hate.

The acting is stunning. As I said Cohen is a character you love to hate, and that is down to Sean Penn. As much as I don't like the guy (Keep your nose out of the Falklands Penn), he was fantastic in this. Everyone else was superb in their roles, though you could argue that you don't see much of them. Yet, as I said before, you do care about what happens to these characters.

As much as I hate to say it, there are some bad bits. The main point is this film is full of cliches and characters which seem to appear in most films (Gosling's womaniser anyone?), including a character staying out of the plot until a close friend is killed, the inevitable "it's being shut down" "ah well, let's do it one last time", it can be a bit too much. Also grenade timers have varying times.

But in the end, who the Hell cares? I maintain that this film is extremely entertaining, the action is amazing, the acting is fantastic, the plot runs smooth and is great, I really don't understand how most people don't like it. Maybe it's what I said earlier, that I didn't expect much going in. But I stand by my statement, this is a hugely entertaining film.