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SOUND OFF

Sound Off: Ruben Fleischer's 'Gangster Squad' - What Did You Think?

by Alex Billington
January 11, 2013

Now that you've seen it, what did you think? No names. No badges. No mercy. After being delayed from October last year, and revised after the Aurora tragedy, the Los Angeles-set police drama Gangster Squad, directed by Ruben Fleischer, is now out in theaters. Josh Brolin stars as Sgt. O'Mara, the head of an unofficial cop squad assigned to take down mobster Mickey Cohen, played by Sean Penn. The rest of the squad includes: Ryan Gosling, Robert Patrick, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena with Giovanni Ribisi. But is it any good? Once you've seen it, post a comment with your own thoughts on Gangster Squad.

To load this tommy gun full of lead, I think Gangster Squad was a hell of a lot of fun, pure gangster cinema, worth it for the action scenes and shootouts alone. Josh Brolin is the best part about it, or so I think. He really brings together not only the rest of the Gangster Squad crew, but he's a formidable opponent to an otherwise incredibly vile, bad guy. Sean Penn did a solid job playing Mickey Cohen, and causes enough of a ruckus to bring together a badass group of cops. However, the story doesn't carry much weight, more the style and action than the script. Often times I was a bit bored by the relationships, waiting to get to the next action set piece. Speaking of which, the final shootout made up for everything, a totally badass grand finale.

What did you think of Gangster Squad? One of the best mobster movies, or an empty mess? We will remove any comments that indicate you have not seen the movie, as this area is meant to discuss the film only once you have seen it and can talk about your thoughts. Please keep the comments civilized!

Filed under Discuss, Hype, Sound Off

From around the web:

Finley

Not as good as Zombieland
http://www.facebook.com/Tyban Tyler Bannock

It's ok. Worth a matinee price. All bark and no bite. Sean Penn was the best part of the film.
- Tester
  
  Tyler, thanks for your input, this much pretty much sums up what I saw in the trailer..
Neo

I thought it was a great action movie, it wasn't trying to be an LA confidential or untouchables like some people are comparing it to. Really liked Ryan gosling in this
http://www.facebook.com/people/Christopher-Philip-Cinquegrano/100000932639147 Christopher Philip Cinquegrano

I wanna see Josh Brolin an Daniel Day Lewis do a really good gritty western or any movie together for that matter. You could have Eastwood direct. Just need a great story.
I am Jacks DVD

I enjoyed it. Certainly not as bad as some of the critics have made out. Some funny lines, nicely shot and well paced. The ending could have been more dramatic though.
http://twitter.com/DrewKerr Drew Kerr

The fact there are six comments before this one says it all.
Richie G

It was fun, but I'll never watch it again. Before I watched it I heard about an amazing shoot out at the end, that was the biggest disappointment, completely lacked any intelligence. Gosling made a good point after their first successful outing, it was constant blind luck that kept the team alive throughout the film. Those kind of movies irk me 4/10
http://twitter.com/airosah Joe So

turd nugget. no more josh brolin PLEASE!
http://twitter.com/lukecooldude Luke Hill

Instant classic! I think Ruben has really shown what he can do with this, especially following Zombieland. My favourite mobster movie to date. Perfect amount of action, perfect amount of humor, perfect amount of awesome! And let's face it, can Ryan Reynolds really get any better right now? Considering my heterosexual status once again.. 4/5 stars
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ryan-Hancock/510667721 Ryan Hancock

No where near as bad as so many critics are making out to be. Don't always listen to the critics people! I thought it was entertaining, and I cared about the characters' and their life outside of the squad, even though that's lauded as the worst part about the film by many. SMALL SPOILER That scene with the child after his father is killed? Damn, that made me emotional. It's obviously not an AMAZING movie, but I liked it and was throughly entertained, and that's all I can ask for in January.