Gangster Squad

Filmdom offers us a nice array of gangster grit, including The Godfather and Scarface.  If you liked the shootouts in those classics, with lots of blood and gore, you'll love Gangster Squad!

The film opens with Sean Penn, who plays the somewhat mad, utterly power hungry Micky Cohen, standing over a dude with chains tied to his upper and lower torso.  In a few seconds, we see that the chains are attached to cars facing in opposite directions.  Yes, readers, you get to see a man torn apart at the waist!  Hahaha!

How's that for getting the full "flavor" of the flick right at the outset?

When it comes to gangster flicks, there's not much to the story.  It's really about bad guy vs. good guy.  Sean Penn is masterful, as usual, at his role: he's corruption, egotism, and violence incarnate!  Josh Brolin is the cop who must bring the bad guy to his knees.

So why am I not going on and on about these two fine actors?

Simple.

They're upstaged by the dazzling new starlet Emma Stone.  You might remember Emma from The Help, where she was outstanding as the young girl brave enough to stand up to racism.  I also recall Easy A, where she played the "slut" with grace and comic wit.  She was even great in Zombieland, where she wandered with fellow survivors and played the empowered young woman.

Emma, however, steals the show in Gangster Squad.  There's something about her mannerisms and style that elevates her from stereotypical gangster moll to a sympathetic character.  Check out the starlet in the picture above.  Doesn't she look like a gangster's girlfriend?

So, overall?

Tough to really say.  Yes, the film was entertaining.  Yes, it offered top action.  Yes, the characters were fairly well drawn.  Yes, the flick had talented, well-known actors.

But it lacked a certain something.

For you to determine, I hope.