It's not much more than pulpy, violent gangster entertainment, but Gangster Squad is a blending of old timey conventions with modern filmmaking techniques that makes for major studio B-movie goodness that should be praised rather than condemned.
As a sports film, Warrior doesn’t offer any new twist on a tried and true template, but it could be held up as a perfect example of how to make an uplifting sports film. This story of two estranged brothers trying to make their way through a newly formed mixed martial arts tournament hits almost every beat the audience expects, but it does so with near flawless precision. This isn’t exactly the reinvention of the wheel, but it sure does give one of the smoothest rides of the year.
Much like the original Arthur with Dudley Moore from 1980, director Jason Winner's Russell Brand starring remake is a film perfectly befitting of it's main character. It is a film that coasts by so effortlessly on the charm and wit of the actor at the centre of it, that it is a hard film to dislike. It also really isn't that great of a film, and much like the billionaire, alcoholic playboy at the heart of the film, it has a lot of problems that are either never addressed or are dealt with too late in the film to have much of an impact.
