REVIEW: "Gangster Squad" made the news last summer before most moviegoers had even heard of it. A scene in the film's trailer shows four men with automatic weapons who stand behind a movie screen and fire through it at the seated audience while a movie airs, then walk through the holes their bullets made in the screen and continue firing.

The scene would've been brutally violent in any context, but after the horrific shootings at a Colorado theater showing "The Dark Knight Rises," the trailer was pulled and the film altered. That scene's now gone from the film, and those who haven't heard of the controversy wouldn't ever notice its omission. (The released film contains a scene with a shooting in Chinatown, which reportedly was added in as a replacement for the theater scene.)

But as with "Jack Reacher," which came out just a week after the Connecticut school shootings and opens with a sniper who takes aim on innocents, including a young girl, it's going to be tough for many -- perhaps all -- to see the sheer amount of violence in "Gangster Squad" and not wonder about it.

Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who's acted in his share of violent films, has come out and said that Hollywood can't be blamed for real-life shootings like those in Colorado and Connecticut. And in a lively discussion on the TODAY Facebook page, many readers agreed with the former California governor.

"Watching Roadrunner-(Wile E.) Coyote cartoons did not make me hit people on the head with an anvil," wrote reader Abel Garcia.

And indeed that's true. Few Acme anvil murders have been reported even when Looney Tunes was at the height of its popularity. But that doesn't mean it's easy to sit and watch the sheer unrelenting violence that flows across the screen in "Gangster Squad," to see a pregnant woman shot at over and over again, to watch a man murdered with a giant drill and then see the camera quickly switch -- in a supposedly witty segue -- to a raw hamburger patty sizzling on a grill.

But suppose you can take as much violence as Hollywood cares to dish out here, from the guy ripped in half by a car and quickly devoured  by coyotes to the henchmen burned up in an elevator. Even then, "Gangster Squad" is no "Godfather," no "L.A. Confidential." It doesn't delve into the minds of its characters like those films, doesn't use its richly painted retro setting for anything meaningful.

Josh Brolin stars as Sgt. John O'Mara, an Irish cop who sets out to stop New York mobster Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn) from taking over Los Angeles. It's 1949, and Brolin and his pals repeatedly remind us that they're World War II vets, who fought for freedom overseas and aren't about to give up fighting back at home. But there's no real indication of how the war hardened or changed them, only the constant repetition that they are veterans. Which every man was back then, and few needed to trumpet.

Penn, so good in so many films, has just two emotions here: "I'm About To Go Full-Blown Completely Freakout Psycho," and "Here I Am, In Full-Blown Completely Freakout Psycho Mode." There's never a sense, as we got from the Corleones in "The Godfather" or even Tony Soprano in "The Sopranos," that Cohen has anything in his personality that would make him a leader. He's just a sadistic crazy who's bound to turn on anyone he's ever met, including lovely girlfriend Emma Stone.

Ryan Gosling utilizes his Hey-Girl charm as the womanizing member of the squad, with Robert Patrick as the sharpshooting cowboy, Giovanni Ribisi as the brainiac, and Anthony Mackie as the black guy who hates Burbank. Seriously, he's given no other distinguishing characteristics, but at least he's slightly more of a full squad member than Michael Pena, who plays the group's lone Mexican member.

The screenplay never avoids a chance to remind us that Cohen is Bad with a capital B. After he has the man torn apart and fed to coyotes, his henchmen sweet-talk a midwestern innocent fresh off the bus into a hotel room where they plan to gang-rape her. O'Mara's able to smash his way in one-handed and stop it, of course, because that's the kind of movie this is. Uncomplicated evil meets uncomplicated good, and blood and brains grease the path. 

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Jonathan Alcorn / REUTERS

Ryan Gosling and mom Donna Gosling at the "Gangster Squad" premiere.

Ryan Gosling made for half of an adorable couple tonight on the red carpet, as usual. Hold your horses, it was mom and frequent event date Donna basking in the glow of her son's success at the "Gangster Squad" premiere in Hollywood -- but Eva Mendes was there in spirit!

"My mother's wearing all my girlfriend's clothes," Gosling told E! News, a tidbit we found highly believable considering her paisley-print trench, which we could easily picture on a certain actress.

Emma Stone talks writing around on Ryan Gosling's bed

"I'm wearing Eva Mendes," Donna confirmed, adding, "She let me raid her closet."

Well, that's ... cute?

Gosling also sweetly attributed his sex-symbol status to genetics. "I mean, obviously, as you can see...." he said, gesturing toward Donna.

See more pics from tonight's "Gangster Squad" premiere

Alas, the Canadian-born heartthrob couldn't tell us who designed his as-seen-on-every-actor-this-year brown suit -- probably because he had no idea. It appears that the ladies in his life are the ones who take the lead in the style department.

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Paramount Pictures

Tom Cruise in "Jack Reacher."

Guns and shootings are as much a part of Hollywood plots as special effects and makeup. But after last week's shootings in Newtown, Conn., entertainment executives have been scrambling to make changes to avoid looking insensitive to the tragedy.

But one of the changes that many think was related to the shooting was merely a coincidence, network representatives say.

"American Guns," a Discovery Channel reality show about the Wyatt family, gunmakers in Colorado, was not renewed after its second season ended in September. The network said in a statement that it "chose not to renew the series and has no plans to air repeats of the show."

Fox News calls the cancellation a "surprise given (the show's) growing popularity," reporting that the show "had a 50 percent ratings increase for its second season premiere." Fox also quoted a representative of gun-rights group The Firearms Coalition saying, "It does not surprise me that Discovery may be lowering the profile of its gun coverage. That's their prerogative. Nonetheless this tragedy has as much to do about lawful use of guns as the lawful use of cars has to do with a car bombing."

But one change made by cable channel TLC did have to do with the shootings. The pilot for a new reality show, "Best Funeral Ever," was supposed to air Dec. 20. That show, which focuses on elaborate funerals given by the Golden Gate Funeral Home in Dallas, will air Jan. 6 instead.

Violence in movies is also an issue. After the shootings at a showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in July, a trailer for the film "Gangster Squad" was pulled from theater use due to a scene in which gunmen walk through a theater screen shooting into the audience. "Gangster Squad" was set to open in September, but after the shootings, was moved to January. The theater scene was reportedly edited out, but a gunfire-heavy ad for the film aired Sunday during NFL football, two days after the shootings.

Gun violence is also a theme in Tom Cruise's new movie, "Jack Reacher," which opens Dec. 21. The movie, based on a book by Lee Child, opens with a scene in which a sniper shoots five seemingly random people on Pittsburgh's riverfront.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Paramount has made some changes to the marketing of "Jack Reacher" since the Newtown shootings, including cutting a scene from promotional spots that shows Cruise firing a semi-automatic weapon. The studio also postponed the Pittsburgh premiere of the film.

Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained," which will open on Dec. 25, is also filled with bloody scenes and gun violence. The Weinstein Co. canceled the film's planned public premiere and party Tuesday as a reaction to the shooting.

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the tragedy in Newtown, CT and in this time of national mourning we have decided to forgo our scheduled event," The Weinstein Co. said in a statement. "However, we will be holding a private screening for the cast and crew and their friends and families." 

At a press event Saturday, director Quentin Tarantino spoke about the film's violence, saying, "I just think, you know, there's violence in the world, tragedies happen, blame the playmakers. It's a Western. Give me a break."

In the film, Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington play slaves who are whipped and brutalized in the pre-Civil War South. Washington pointed out that much of the violence in "Django Unchained" takes place as characters fight back against slavery.

"I do think that it's important when we have the opportunity to talk about violence and not just kind of have it as entertainment, but connect it to the wrongs, the injustices, the social ills," Washington said.

Movie studio 20th Century Fox also canceled red carpet events for its film "Parental Guidance," which is not a violent film.

Fox also replaced Sunday's episodes of "Family Guy" and "American Dad" with less-violent reruns, and SyFy yanked an episode of "Haven" which included violence in a high school.

The trailer for the upcoming movie "Gangster Squad" has been pulled from showings of "The Dark Knight Rises" because it shows men shooting up an audience in a movie theater, Warner Brothers confirmed to NBC News.

In the scene, four men with automatic weapons stand behind a movie screen and fire through it at the seated audience while a movie airs, then walk through the holes their bullets made in the screen and continue firing.

Warner Brothers is the studio behind both "Gangster Squad" and "The Dark Knight Rises." The studio would not comment about whether the "Gangster Squad" trailer or the film itself would be edited due to the scene.

"Gangster Squad" stars Sean Penn as mob boss Mickey Cohen and also stars Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Nick Nolte and Emma Stone. It's based on the book by Paul Lieberman and is scheduled to open in theaters Sept. 14.

News events have forced similiar film changes in the past. This May, 20th Century Fox decided to change the name of its film "Neighborhood Watch" to "The Watch"to distance the film from the shooting of Trayvon Martin by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman.

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