Despite the re-shoots sparked by the Colorado cinema tragedy earlier this summer, anticipation remains high for Gangster Squad, which sees Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling as the driving force behind an unconventional cop team dedicated to taking down East Coast mobsters who have surged into 1940s Los Angeles. Some frankly awesome behind the scenes shots have cropped up in W Magazine, and you can see a selection in the gallery below.

Linked via director Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland)’s Twitter feed, the pics show some of the luscious production design and attention to detail going into this thing. It also demonstrates the resonant chemistry that Gosling and Emma Stone first brewed for Crazy, Stupid, Love and have continued here as Gosling’s Sgt Jerry Wooters woos Stone’s Grace Faraday, who also happens to be the main squeeze of head criminal Mickey Cohen (Sean Penn).

Based on real accounts (Brolin’s top cop John O’Mara in particular was a real man) and adapted by Will Beall from Paul Lieberman’s articles about the events, the film is a throwback in the best sense, according to Fleischer. “It’s been a while since people really fell in love with an American gangster movie,” he says. “It’s a modern take on the tradition, and hopefully a return to form.”

Though the re-shoots have possibly shifted things around, Gangster Squad is still due to arrive on January 11. Head to W’s site to see more of the pics and Fleischer’s first-hand commentary.