[Locke]

Every man carries a badge...

Now I've got a degree in film, the question that seems to bind my life is, "when did fun stop being important?". I missed Gangster Squad when it was in cinemas, despite being excited for it, because of all the scathing reviews. However if you read the reviews, I mean really read the reviews, they are basically hating on the fact that Gangster Squad is fun.

Complaining that Gangster Squad is all style over substance, apparently that didn't matter when the film was called Avatar, but it does here for some reason. Complaining about Gangster Squads violence, I guess that is only allowed in Horror films or something? And the worst criticism? "it isn't true to history", so? It's a movie? Did the story of Mickey Cohen suddenly become sacred or some shit? Because you must demand documentary style realism from your Hollywood gangster flick!

Me? I actually watched the film and appreciated it on what it was supposed to be. I know right? Shock, horror! I'm a huge fan of the noir genre and obviously due to both the technology, and also the censorship and culture of the time, classic noir films can only go so far, they are still full of extreme violence and all the rest, but a lot of it is more implied and left to the imagination.

There is nothing wrong with that but seeing the violence being allowed to play on screen as Gangster Squad explodes into huge car chases and even bigger gun fights makes my inner noir fan explode with glee. Gangster Squad takes all the elements of a classic noir and wraps it in a sandwich of modern technology, and it's simply glorious.

It has an all star cast who really show their talent. Gosling is putting in easily one of the best performances of his career here, and a way better performance than he put in in the grossly over hyped Place Beyond The Pines. And it looks like Emma Stone has finally lived up to the 'sexiest woman in Hollywood' title. This movie was just pure awesome. I loved it.

If there are any surprises to be had, it's perhaps that the Gangster Squad themselves suck. They are a band of misfits, who are all brilliant at what they do, but rather than Hollywood glorifying their actions the Gangster Squad meet failure at every turn, and every victory is usually bitter sweet and heavy with moral complications, guilt and regret. When the movie starts shifting into the third act and the Gangster Squad begins to crumble in a violent haze of gunfire it is almost anti climactic because the squad never reached a height far enough to fall down from. But I don't mean that in a negative sense at all, I think it's brilliant. It's a world where the heroes don't win just because they are the heroes, and it's a world where every gunshot has an impact beyond that of the visceral connection of lead to flesh. Gangster Squad may be a beautiful, heavily stylised neo-noir action film but through all the flair, it never lost its soul.

Gangster Squad is one long, intense scramble from start to finish. And I'd happily kick and scream through the mud for many years to come with this movie, that'll have you screaming in triumph by the end. I'm just gutted I missed what is probably the best film of the year in cinemas.