On Gangster Squad

Channelling The Untouchables (1987) and, in its mismatched group of heroes, Avengers Assemble (2012), Gangster Squad is as impressive as neither and chooses style over substance. A sociopathic East coast gangster takes over Los Angeles reeking violence and corruption over the city. The honest and incorruptible chief of police recruits a group of LA police officers to leave their badges at home and take the fight to the gangsters. What results is a series of messy and violent deaths and messier character development.

The characters are introduced in a way that echoes a trashy, power ranger’s style show. We meet them in their environment performing a magnificent seven-style skill (knives, guns, technology) before we move on to the next. This doesn’t suit the seriousness of the story and results in a complete lack of investment, emotionally and narrative based, in the characters.  

The most interesting, but unfortunately rarely explored aspect of Gangster Squad is the idea of post WWII syndrome; the question of where do these violent men fit into a civilised world when all they’ve known for the last several years is fighting and violence? Some go the way of the gangsters, but what of those that chose good, how do they fit into society? The film attempts some exploration of these themes and is at its best when it does, but ultimately it succumbs to cheap and easy genre clichés. A waste of such a talented cast.