GANGSTER SQUAD (THE DIET UNTOUCHABLES)

The ruthless Micky Cohen is trying to muscle in on Los Angeles...time to call the Untouchab....er, I mean, the Gangster Squad!

Being a huge fan Film Noir, this flick was an exciting one for me.  Love those movies with the double breasted suit wearing, Tommy gun shooting, car chasing, prohibition era gangsters tearing towns apart!  Gangster Squad does just that.

Nick Nolte's raspy voice makes an appearance!

Now this movie has gotten mixed reviews and I can see why; first off, people say it's unoriginal and pretty much style over substance.  I can understand that, but how original can a gangster movie be?  They're usually about the same thing because they're from the same era!

Second, people watch this and say "eh, I've seen better.  This was not what the Untouchables was."  Sure, you're exactly right....but the Untouchables was the Untouchables and that movie is untouchable. I don't foresee see any gangster movies doing better than it, but does that mean there should never be another gangster movie made ever again?  Yes Gangster Squad took a few pages out of the Untouchables book, but why complain?  Every zombie movie is the same and there isn't as much opposition about that.

The original Gangster Squad

Please.  Relax and enjoy the film.

Now what we have here is a ruthless gangster, Micky Cohen (played by the awesome Sean Penn) who is taking over Los Angeles little by little and trying to make a move for the west coast.  He's got almost everyone on payroll so he's...well...untouchable.  So a group of cops decide it's time to put this dude out of business, gangster style.  They take the fight to Cohen's front door and blood is spilled!

Sean Penn has the gangster image down to a science!

My wife said she found some parts dragged and was a little bored until the action sequences (which were phenomenal), but I can't imagine what parts she was talking about.  I was hooked from beginning to end.

Josh Brolin was his usual great self, Sean Penn was AWESOME (even though his face looked computer generated) and while Ryan Gosling was very good, his accent was hard to process...it just didn't fit him well.  Robert Patrick (famous for his role as the T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgement Day) was great in his small role also.

A black guy in the 1950s?  "Good Luck" indeed to you Papa Doc!

Now my friends and I were waiting for this movie, not because of the movie itself, but because of a scene in the trailer where the squad was standing behind a theater screen and walked through it whilst shooting it open with constant Tommy gun firing.  Alas, if you haven't heard, this scene was supposed to be the climatic sequence at the end of the movie but was scrapped after the tragic shooting at the Dark Knight Rises premier.  Check out the video below to hear about it:

Big action, decent story and great acting...this movie will DEFINITELY bring the Untouchables to mind, but stay open and you'll enjoy it anyway....and then go home and watch the Untouchables to end the day right!

My Rating:

3.99995721341 out of 5 stars


See ya soon


Jay