Gangster Squad (2013)

WARNING: THIS MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS!

As mobster movies go, the first five minutes of this one should set this off as one of the best I’ve seen in my movie-loving years. A stylish monologue is where we meet our main characters, and as Sean Penn beats a punch bag and looks thuggishly into the camera we hear Josh Brolin recount his days in the war and the plight of the good man against the bad. All of this within the first three minutes, but the real action begins as we witness the brutish criminals led by Italian-American-accented Penn tear a guy in half as he’s chained between two vehicles. With this he declares ‘Mickey Cohen owns Los Angeles now’, and boy can you not help but believe him. That is, of course, until John O’Mara (Brolin), the vigilante reluctant-hero of the piece enters the story and we see the damage he can do, when so inclined. This involves beating senseless a couple of scumbag criminals and sticking another’s hand between the floor and the elevator shaft – cue horrible scream and a ‘this-shit-just-got-real’ moment. Suddenly the audience is left wondering if Mickey Cohen does own Los Angeles, or if the real fight has just begun… (which, considering it’s a nearly-two-hour-long film, is a fairly good assumption to make)?

Here we have our rough-round-the-edges Gangster Squad. From L-R: Giovanni Ribisi, Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Anthony Mackie, Michael Pena and Robert Patrick. 

As Cohen's influence over Los Angeles grows and seeps into law officials who love their “whores” just a little too much, O’Mara, with the prodding of the chief of the LAPD who tells him rather inspiringly that he “want[s] to talk about the war for the soul of Los Angeles”, takes it upon himself to bring together a rag-tag team of vigilantes whose sole aim is to drive Cohen out of LA before he can “own the West” through the central book, which controls all western gambling and puts Cohen in a pretty sweet position both in terms of money, prestige, and position on the law vs. criminals scale. All of this happens against the backdrop of personal relationships, which play a big part in the characters decisions and motivations – namely that of Brolin and his heavily pregnant wife, as well as Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, whose on-screen chemistry oozes sex-appeal.

Of course, with the havoc the ‘gangster squad’ are wreaking, while not actually claiming any monetary benefits, it’s not long before Cohen figures out that the ‘gang war’ isn't actually a gang war, but a war against those in the law who have grown sick of crime seeping into everyday society. With this Cohen sets our hero-vigilantes up by using there spyware equipment against them and telling them he has a high-stakes trade in China-town. Gosling’s character, Jerry, quickly realizes after Stone’s life is threatened by a couple of Cohen’s lackeys and saves the day, but not without a heavy price for the vigilante-gangster-squad and their loved ones.

Gosling and Stone ooze romantic chemistry in each and every scene and their individual sex-appeal make them the perfect onscreen couple. Who couldn't help but fall for their combined charm in this film. 

Suddenly we make our way to the bloody-climax, thanks to the promise of a testimony from Gracey (Stone), who witnessed Cohen savagely murder one of the good guys making a stand against the face of his tyranny. With warrant in hand the remaining gangster squad make it to Cohen’s hideout, a swanky hotel laden with Cohen’s men. With gun-toting ferocity and an epic face-off between O’Mara and Penn the final minutes of gangster squad rear, and we are faced with the bloody and raw remnants of the antagonist and protagonist as they face off in a Tybalt-and-Mercutio-in-the-style-of-Lurhman battle. Its bloody, its raw, it’s ferocious. It’s an incredible final act.

Though the mobster action and gruesome style death in the film are plentiful and stylistically drawn, it is the emotion and heart in this film that have the greatest impact. After all, it is for the “soul” of their home that the gangster squad risk their lives, and this is most definitely where the strength of this film lies. Particular praise must be paid to Gosling, whose soul and heart counteracts with Brolin’s brain and brawn perfectly. Each character comes to life in the hands of this talented cast and the fierce madness of Penn is astounding, echoing his phenomenal performance in Mystic River.

Surely this film will become a classic of its genre, not just for the stellar cast and awesome style, not to mention the pack-a-punch one-liners (some seriously brilliant ones in this movie people), but for the heart behind the awesomely-action-packed story of mobster-brawn against heart-driven vigilante justice.

Best line: (there's almost too many to choose from, but this is definitely memorable, and seems to sums up the film...)

Mickey Cohen: Los Angeles is my fucking destiny, you motherfucker!

To cut a long story short...
Would I recommend this? Yes. A film ramblers star rating?

That's it for now folks...