Gangster Squad Reviews

A violent and cartoonish take on the '40s gangster scene in LA.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5

It should all be a lot more fun than it is, or at least as rollicking as "Zombieland," Fleischer's clever 2009 outing. Some pious soul-searching near the end is altogether insufferable.

Full Review | Original Score: **

There's nothing particularly wrong with Gangster Squad, except perhaps its timing, but there's nothing particularly right either.

Full Review

...it would seem so much was spent on waistcoats that no one could afford to go to Officeworks, as Gangster Squad's script - the foundation of every film - is an absolute mess.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad attempts to recreate mobster magic, but ends up fumbling into an endless amount of clichés and some horrid digital photography to boot.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

Gangster Squad is never bad, and only rarely is it uninvolving, but the slight entertainment it provides comes coupled with a fair amount of tedium

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/10

Somewhere in this hyper-stylized actioner are remnants of some previously-conceived film, a better movie that feels as if it has been methodically stripped down over time, losing the pulpiness of the genre to the video game culture.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/10

I don't mind not thinking too hard if I'm going to get something out of it at some point, but this is more like a self-perpetuating Ouroboros loop of not thinking too hard.

Full Review | Original Score: C

Robert Patrick has fun in a supporting role, but Emma Stone's talents are wasted on a nothing female-bargaining-chip character.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.75/5

What could have been "LA Confidential" ends up being a dime store "Untouchables" crossed with "Dick Tracy".

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5

...being point blank for Brolin delivering the horrendous dialogue coaxed me to exclaim aloud - "this guy is dumb as a post."

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Fleischer's film goes rogue...

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5

All the people in the picture are playing at their characters, rather than actually playing the characters. Everyone looks grand in their period clothes, but they're making make-believe that is not in the least bit believable.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/4

A second-tier "Untouchables" interested only in making a lot of noise while ignoring character and plot. The newspaper articles that inspired it tell a much better story.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4

A shallow, star-studded amalgam of every Los Angeles cops-and-crooks drama you've ever seen.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

As you would expect, shootouts are had, jaws are socked, ultimatums are issued, Packards are exploded and somewhere Raymond Chandler rolls over in his grave.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

The final product elicits little more than a shrug. Made it, ma. Top of the world...

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

A movie that plays out like the most basic of 1950s cop shows, except with a double dose of ultra violence.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

There's little to glean from Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad except for maybe a few modest laughs, whether the comedy be intentional or not, and some charm from Ryan Gosling.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.9/10

Ruben Fleischer's film is a perfect example of Hollywood hypocrisy, something to be ignored diligently.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/4