Gangster Squad

Los Angeles in 1949: The city is firmly in the grip of gangster boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn), who is not only in charge of drugs, arms dealing and prostitution. Several high-ranking police officers and politicians are also on Cohen's payroll. So it's almost impossible for the honest cops, who are a thorn in Cohen's side, to take action against him. And those who dare to do it anyway, can end up bitterly. But Sgt. John O'Mara (Josh Brolin) doesn't see why he should be intimidated by the gangster and his brutal henchmen. After all, he didn`t fight for freedom and peace in World War II only to watch his city perish from the omnipotence fantasies of a ruthless mobster. On behalf of the intrepid Chief Parker (Nick Nolte), O`Mara recruits a small secret task force to use means beyond law and order to ensure that Cohen is knocked from his throne. And indeed the plan seems to work after first small setbacks. But a Mickey Cohen, of course, is not so easily kept down.

With his highly amusing and original debut, the horror-comedy Zombieland, director Ruben Fleischer has shown a great talent for stylish, bloody and amusing genre cinema. Though the follow-up, the crook comedy 30 Minutes or Less, failed to maintain the level of Fleischer's debut, his knack for visually staging action sequences was again evident. Now the filmmaker has changed subjects again for his third feature. Gangster Squad is his first attempt at relatively serious material. His thriller has suspense, drama, action, blood, a bit of humor and a little romance to offer - all the ingredients of which a good gangster film is made.

Visually, the film based on true events is again beyond reproach. At times, the whole thing feels like a graphic novel made real, with Fleischer consistently taking the comic book-like style of Zombieland to the next level. The set is just as convincing as the visual effects, through which the Los Angeles of the late 1940s has been brought back to life. And in terms of acting, the lead-laden thriller is also on quite a high level. While Sean Penn successfully counters the fact that the audience is too distracted by his somewhat too obvious make-up, the sparks between Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone continue to fly violently in their second screen appearance together after Crazy Stupid Love. And Josh Brolin is also convincing as a determined fighter for justice, even if his dialogues are a bit too filled with pathos at times.

Despite all its positive aspects, Gangster Squad has not become a comparable masterpiece like its great idols a la The Untouchables. The reason for this is the fact that Fleischer presents more of a genre best-of and doesn't bring in enough of his own ideas that would make the film stand out from the crowd of similar works and give it some sustainability. For the little gangster movie hunger in between, Fleischer's film offers perfect entertainment. But for a modern classic of the genre, it just lacks that very personal touch, even if the battle of the men of the Gangster Squad against Mickey Cohen has many great moments to offer. But at least those are still enough at the end to be able to attest the film an absolutely worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp