10 Brilliant Characters Trapped In Terrible Movies

Ruben Fleischer's dull action-drama Gangster Squad tells a fictionalised story of the downfall of infamous mob boss Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn, wearing laughably poor prosthetics).

The film stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Michael Pena, Anthony Mackie, Nick Nolte, Giovanni Ribisi and Robert Patrick, and somehow squanders every ounce its impossibly stacked talent to underdeveloped characters, weak storytelling and an overly dark tone which is overflowing with generic action sequences and tired dialogue.

Amongst all these glaring issues, there are bright spots, including a tragically underused role from the T-1000 himself, Robert Patrick, who turns in a solid performance as renowned detective and sharpshooter Max Kennard.

There are references peppered throughout the film about Kennard's legendary past, and he spends much of the movie acting as the voice of reason and wisdom amongst his younger and more impatient Squad members.

In the end, though, he's barely around, and despite a stand-out moment in the final act, he ends up little more than a wasted piece of potential in a film that really should have been this generation's Untouchables.