Gangster Squad
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: January 11, 2013 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
40
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
23
Negative:
10
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawJan 10, 2013
For all the guns and gore, it's as breezy and uncritical as a tale from the True Detective magazine that the cops can't help reading. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanJan 10, 2013
Instead of expanding their sights, Fleischer and Beall narrow them, into a repetitive and increasingly exhausting series of shootouts. By the end, those guns might as well be held by extras, rather than some of the most talented actors of our time. Read full review
60
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyJan 7, 2013
Made up of synthetics rather than whole cloth, this lurid concoction superficially gets by thanks to a strong cast and jazzy period detail, but its cartoonish contrivances fail to convince and lack any of the depth, feeling or atmosphere of genre stand-bearers like "L.A. Confidential." Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramJan 7, 2013
Typified by Penn's blustery performance, Gangster Squad is sleek, stylish but superficial. Easy on the eye, even easier on the brain, it doesn't last long in the memory. Read full review
60
EmpireNick de SemlyenJan 7, 2013
Sean Penn's not been this fun since Jeff Spicoli and there's plenty of rip-roaring action, but Gangster Squad proves a minor entry in the annals of LA noir. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerJan 11, 2013
Penn is always entertaining when he's playing characters drunk with depravity. Gangster Squad could use more of him. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick GroenJan 11, 2013
The irony is worth noting: Back when it was really 1949, Hollywood made noir with teeth; this is nougat with pretensions. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldConnie OgleJan 11, 2013
It's the cinematic equivalent of Bon Jovi's You Give Love a Bad Name: You know in your heart it's a crappy song, and every wince-inducing line is an affront to your intelligence, but hey, it's on the radio, so you turn up the volume and sing along anyway. Read full review
50
New York PostLou LumenickJan 11, 2013
A cartoonish 1940s shoot-'em-up that's impossible to take seriously. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJan 10, 2013
Josh Brolin plays the leader of the gangster squad as a kind of dedicated dunce, which is appropriate considering their clumsy antics. Ryan Gosling has more nuance as his right-hand man, but Emma Stone is completely out of her element as a slinky film noir heroine, a walking anachronism. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia PuigJan 10, 2013
In the last five minutes the film shifts gears and offers a tribute to law enforcement. But this tacked-on resolution is as sticky and fake as Sean Penn's make-up job. Read full review
50
SalonAndrew O'HehirJan 10, 2013
As a capable imitation of better movies by Martin Scorsese, Brian DePalma and Roman Polanski – it's reasonably successful entertainment. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisJan 10, 2013
Gangster Squad is an almost movie. It's almost terrible. It's almost entertaining. But it's missing the shameless insanity of a wonderfully bad movie, and the particular vision, point of view, and coherence of some very good ones. So it sits there in between - loud, flashy, and unnecessary. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsJan 10, 2013
A triumph of production design but a pretty dull kill-'em-up otherwise. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleLouis BlackJan 9, 2013
Despite the unrelenting action and the terrific cast, Gangster Squad comes up more scattered than successful. Read full review
50
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJan 9, 2013
It never really comes together in a satisfying way, and given the talent involved, that adds up to a big disappointment. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertJan 9, 2013
To be fair, this tawdry dose of pulp fiction ("inspired by real events") is not a complete waste of time. It offers the marginal pleasure of an all-star cast slumming their way through a thicket of routine plotting, almost laughable dialogue and the constant blaze of tommy guns. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen GleibermanJan 9, 2013
Brolin and Gosling are both supposed to be playing World War II veterans who bring their knowledge of battle into the tough turf of the streets, but that's just a concept that the sketchy, half-baked script tosses out there. Read full review
42
Film.comStephanie ZacharekFeb 27, 2013
The violence is so indifferently presented that it has no kick; it’s not grim or graphic enough to shock, but it doesn’t rev us up, either. The picture’s various shoot-’em-up sequences are so generically conceived and shot that each one is indistinguishable from the next – by the movie’s end, they may as well all collapse into an exhausted heap. Read full review
42
Portland OregonianMarc MohanJan 10, 2013
Very few will remember it in a few months, which is probably just fine with the folks who made it. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinJan 11, 2013
The period thriller Gangster Squad plays like an untalented 12-year-old's imitation of Brian DePalma's "The Untouchables." Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyJan 10, 2013
The soul of the era is missing, and with it any reason to care. In Fleischer's hands, the high-stakes shootouts are as stylish as a GQ spread, but it's nearly impossible to figure out who's zoomin' who. Read full review
40
Time OutKeith UhlichJan 9, 2013
Though based partly on actual events, Ruben Fleischer's ludicrous shoot-'em-up plays fast and loose with the facts, and plenty else besides. Read full review
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