Very well executed

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Dreadfully Boring

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Sean Penn plays 1940's mobster Mickey Cohen. It is set in Los Angeles and Penn scowls and spews venom for almost two hours. Josh Brolin is an honest cop who is drafted to make life miserable for Mickey. He recruits fellow cops to work off the record, doing whatever it takes to beat the bad guys. Ryan Gosling is one of them and Emma Stone is his and Cohen's squeeze in a dangerous love triangle. The lines are a bit cliche, but the acting is awesome. Sean Penn can do anything on screen and be totally believable. Gangsters is a fun diversion for a couple of hours.

Gangster Squad is a team of "vigilante" cops composed by Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin), Sgt. Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), Officer Coleman Harris (Anthony Mackie), Officer Max Kennard (Robert Patrick), Officer Navidad Ramirez (Michael Peña) and Officer Conwell Keeler (Giovanni Ribisi), with one goal only, to take down Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn). It's a flick full of action, gunfire, crime and with a pinch of romance.The director Ruben Fleischer succeeds to make me feel like I was living in the 50's, surrounded by the mob vibe. The corruption, the disregard for human life, the car shootouts, the simple yet complicated life, the charisma that society emanated. It's 1 hour and 53 minutes of a reality that I never experienced and a part of me wish I did. It goes from the mob brutality to the simple 50's life, back to mob violence, back to the 50's point of view. It's a good set of events, making you live in it.The character development was left a bit on the side, which was not bad, since in this movie I just needed to know who were the bad guys and the good guys to fully understand the plot. And, to that, nothing was left to chance.The movie has the classic Hollywood play in which goes to a point where everything seems lost, with no solution, only to be solved by an unexpected gift. That move is a little outplayed, from my point a view, but it certainly works to create the mood of impotency.Even though I loved the 50's/mafia environment provided, and that this is based on a true story, I just can't help but feel that it all looked so simple and easy for the Squad, without any real challenge from the "villain". It's entertaining, for sure, but it killed a crucial part of the mood for me. I have to give it 6 out of 10.

Why there are people that hate this movie will always remain a mystery to me. I'm not going to say it's the best gangster movie ever, far from that, but it still is an enjoyable movie to watch. If you don't like violent scenes than I get it that Gangster Squad is not for you, because there is a lot of violence in it. But apart from that there is absolutely nothing that could justify hate towards this movie. The cast is excellent, with good performances from almost every actor. It might not be Sean Penn's best performance but it isn't bad either. The story is very easy to follow and you never get bored. The special police force that uses mob tactics to bring down that same mob is a good story, maybe not new, but who cares? If you don't like Mafia movies than I suggest you don't watch Gangster Squad because that is basically what you are going to get.

So-so. Feels like a bad attempt at a James Cagney ripoff, with a bit of LA Confidential and The Untouchables thrown in. Yep, not at all original. Plus, it's more style than substance - flashy action scenes, over-the-top violence, clichéd dialogue and plot. Performances are varied in quality. Josh Brolin is decent in the lead role, though he probably gets the bulk of the clichéd lines. Sean Penn, for all his incredible acting talent, is quite unconvincing as the head gangster. Crime-drama is probably not his strongest suit. Ryan Gosling is quite weak in his role. Emma Stone and Nick Nolte give solid performances in reasonably minor roles.Despite all its obvious weaknesses, is reasonably entertaining, especially if you don't want to have to engage your brain.