Gangster Squad Reviews: Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone's New Film Receives Mixed Reception

"Gangster Squad" was supposed to be released during the fall season, but the Aurora shootings back in July not only delayed its release, but also altered the content of the film. After a long delay, the film will finally be released by the Warner Brothers.

"Squad" is the first high profile release of the year and now faces the question of whether it will live up to the hype or will it end up being a bust.

The film stars Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Josh Brolin and Sean Penn and has thus far scored mixed reviews with early critics.

Some of the positive reviews included Andrew Jones of boxofficebuzz.com who stated that "Gangster Squad" may "be based on a true story, but it doesn't mean the film is limited to dry dialogue and slow-paced build-up...This is a fantasy of the criminal genre and a love of old time Los Angeles fulfilled on screen." He adds that it is "Not subtle, but plenty of fun to watch unfold before you."

Screen Daily also praised director Ruben Fleisher by stating that he "keeps the tone fairly light, leavening the sometimes brutal violence and occasional drama with a steady supply of snappy comedic moments."

Variety's Peter Debruge stated that Gangster Squad, "is an impressively pulpy underworld-plunger," and added that "although it glories in its violent elements, the movie seems pitched at a teenage sensibility that makes such savagery incongruous."

However The Playlist's Charlie Schmidlin wrote that that Gangster Squad is "an aggressive, opulent and ultimately wearisome look at the 1940s Los Angeles". He added that "the film's saturated grab bag of glossy homage proves its final shortcoming." The critc ultimately gave the film a D rating. 

Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter also disliked the film and stated that, "all the characters are hardly more dimensional than caricatures, identifiable by one main trait and barely individualized beyond that." He also states that "Gangster Squad" is all about instant gratification, almost as much for the characters as for the viewer. Finally, the film pays "corny lip service to the idea that, by using thuggish, extra-legal tactics, the off-the-grid cops are lowering themselves to the same level as the gangsters they're pursuing."

The film arrives in theater January 11, 2013.