Should the fight against illegal organizations be legal? I think 'yes', because when the struggle is carried out outside the law, it is no different from those who provide the illegality.
Nowadays, such forms of struggle arise from racism, terrorism and certain political views, and we see abuse of power by those who are supposed to act legally. But each time there is a public backlash, and the steps back are taken one after the other.
Based on a story set in 1949, I can't say 'yes' as easily as above, because I find it as pointless to have a strong opinion about anything that happened in the past as it is to try to predict the outcome of the final confrontation.
In 1949, the fight against a mafia boss who is trying to take over Los Angeles becomes less legal and more about how those who should be legal get in the way of the crimes committed by the illegal organization.
This is the story of Mickey Cohen.
Gangster Squad
I think the attitude of a police officer when he is trying to fight against a criminal organization and he chooses the team to lead the fight is worth seeing. In these moments of the film, dozens of arguments are shown to justify leaving legality and starting an illegal fight against criminals, and every time I agreed...
And the other thing that I thought was worth seeing was Sean Penn's character of Mickey Cohen as the perfect mob boss. He did justice to the character of the mob boss with his ruthless, tough-looking and self-proclaimed god-like style.
But my favorite part was Ryan Gosling's performance as Jerry Wooters, who is part of the team formed to fight criminals. He was quiet, calm and his reaction to what was happening was perfect.
Gangster Squad is a good movie in terms of showing what needs to be done when trying to take over a city (Los Angeles), that the easiest way to get rich is not through legal means, and how/why laws should be broken in the fight against criminals.
However, it does not justify resorting to illegal means to fight crime. It is not hard to guess that many countries/cities have similar formations in their past.
The movie has a good viewing pleasure, it is not too mentally exhausting. But for those who are obsessive like me, it may lead to comparisons between legal and illegal. Personally, I enjoyed making this comparison both while watching the movie and while sharing my thoughts about the movie.
If you want to have a good time, watch the movie without thinking about it because during and after the movie you are pulled by the story to think about it.
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