This may be an early candidate for the dubious title of year's most misunderstood film. It is not The Godfather nor is it Chinatown. Instead, Gangster Squad is a child's comic-strip dream of the period crime film, and on this level, it is a blast. Josh Brolin is our intense, square-jawed crusader, and a smooth Ryan Gosling is his cooler-than-the-North-Pole Doc Holliday. Attention is drawn to the luscious production design and almost musical rhythm of the stylized dialogue as the duo and their men wage war against a gangster played by Sean Penn in a glorious and mad performance I found electrifying and in line with the tone of the enterprise in general. Rather than damn this film for failing to provide a realistic, substantial, and thoughtful dramatic experience of the highest caliber, I praise it as a colorful, exciting, and light-on-its-feet pop delight and a solid early-year curiosity.

B+

Yeah, this one really surprised me. I didn't know what to expect from it, but I was pleased with what I got. It was incredibly entertaining and the acting was great from everyone. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are perfect in their roles and Josh Brolin and Sean Penn are great as well. It's very fun, stylish and entertaining. Definitely recommended.

8/10

GANGSTER SQUAD

This movie was a passable time waster. It felt like I was watching Mobsters or some other lower level gangster picture. A friend thought it was like an Untouchables copycat and it kind of reminded me of that too. I certainly can't argue that Sean Penn certainly acted his role to the Nth but Brolin was bleh and Gosling and Stone seemed like caricatures. Nobody was really interesting except for Penn in this film. It was a bit more violent than I thought it would be. It also felt like a lesser Dick Tracy too. Just not very good overall. Minimally entertaining.

Grade - C

An incredibly entertaining popcorn movie. This isn't trying to be high art - it's pulpy and both knows and relishes in that fact. All of the actors are great in their roles (especially a scenery-chewing Sean Penn), though I have to admit that I was the most interested when Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone were onscreen. I did think Mirielle Enos was wonderful and I loved her character. It reminded me a lot of Ocean's Eleven in its execution except with a thousand times more violence This is definitely worth checking out. B+

So, what you're all saying is, is that I should see this movie?

It's solidly entertaining and goofy as hell, but there is an interesting and serious ode to the gangster movie genre here, buried underneath all the pulp. Unfortunately, it's nearly indiscernible, especially since the theatre shooting scene (which certainly would've added to the film's cinematic referencing) was replaced by a bland Chinatown shootout. It's too bad, because this actually could've been a fascinating meta-gangster flick, as concerned with the filmic representation of true crime as anything else.

As a side note, Emma Stone seems totally out of her element here and not very pretty to boot. I generally don't understand her appeal, but at least in stuff like Easy A she's charming and likeable. Here it just seems like she's playing dress-up.

I hope the original theater shooting scene is included on the DVD/Blu-ray release.

Oh, so the Chinatown scene was the replacement? Was wondering that.

Film isn't bad but not memorable. I saw it earlier and I'm already forgetting about it.

This movie was awesome. So entertaining and a pleasant surprise. This is an underrated popcorn movie. The production design is terrific and the performances are fun.

I'd give it a B+, but was almost tempted to go with an A-.

Sums it up perfectly.

It was decent, but no Untouchables or L.A. Confidential. Entertaining for the most part with some solid performances from Brolin, Penn, and Gosling.

Very forgettable though.

Gangster Squad

Good film. Quite cool with some great lines from Ryan Gosling and some good action. Sean Penn, as much as I hate him, was fantastic. The film was a little dark, though. Bad lighting.

B/B+