Having taken the low-key route through reshoots, delays, and retooled marketing, Ruben Fleischer's period actioner “Gangster Squad” has come roaring back to life in the last few months, dropping an action-packed trailer, posters, and a fitting soundtrack to match. Eager to make up for lost time, that push now continues with a new featurette, TV spot, and image gallery to beckon audiences back to 1940s Los Angeles.
Centered around notorious L.A. gangster Mickey Cohen (played with prosthetic panache by Sean Penn) and the team of LAPD (led by Josh Brolin) assigned to bring him down, the film's international TV spot certainly doesn't promise any sessions of tempered negotiations. Ryan Gosling, Michael Pena, and Anthony Mackie all dodge explosions and fire guns as Fleischer's frantic camera zips around them with spells of cranked slo-mo that would make Zack Snyder proud.
A brief featurette also expands on Fleischer's intentions for the film, with the director hoping to occupy a seminal place in gangster movie lore, while cast members favorably compare the film to “The Untouchables” and “The Godfather,” naturally. Rounding things off is a slick bit of business on WB's part, as the studio hired photographer Estevan Oriol to take a series of beautiful black-and-white snapshots of the cast in action. The photographs are definitely worth a look, and hint at a crisper, more muted picture than the vibrant, digitally polished one set for release.
Regardless of the overall aesthetic, the cast of “Gangster Squad” — which also boasts Emma Stone, Robert Patrick, Giovanni Ribisi and Nick Nolte — promises a entertaining time at the very least when it hits theaters January 11th. Check the TV spot, featurette, and pictures below. [Latino Review/The Film Stage/Moviebox]
