My sufficient, long-held interest in Gangster Squad was terribly impacted by the first trailer, which took my hopes for a late ’40s gangster epic and replaced them with a small, familiar, overly-digital actioner. I was really kind of crushed, to be honest.

A second, international trailer doesn’t have me changing my big band tune and putting the fedora hat back on, but I think I’m simply coming to terms with what Gangster Squad really is — what it “really is” might prove to be entertaining, nonetheless. After all, Josh Brolin looks like a worthy opponent to Sean Penn — who appears to be having fun for the first time in years — and the pairing of Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone might even be too much for yours truly to handle. Such glamour!

Many of my problems still stand, sure, but I’m hoping, possibly against my better judgement, that Ruben Fleischer is able to prove all my current doubts wrong. Please, man, transport us to this crazy period of American history.

You watch the trailer below:

Synopsis:

Los Angeles, 1949. Ruthless, Brooklyn-born mob king Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) runs the show in this town, reaping the ill-gotten gains from the drugs, the guns, the prostitutes and–if he has his way–every wire bet placed west of Chicago. And he does it all with the protection of not only his own paid goons, but also the police and the politicians who are under his control. It’s enough to intimidate even the bravest, street-hardened cop…except, perhaps, for the small, secret crew of LAPD outsiders led by Sgt. John O’Mara (Josh Brolin) and Jerry Wooters (Ryan Gosling), who come together to try to tear Cohen’s world apart. “Gangster Squad” is a colorful retelling of events surrounding the LAPD’s efforts to take back their nascent city from one of the most dangerous mafia bosses of all time.

With Nick Nolte, Robert Patrick, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi, and Anthony Mackie also starring, Gangster Squad will open on September 7th.

How does this new trailer compare to the first? Is Gangster Squad on your radar?