Director Michael Mann (Collateral, Heat) brings his gritty, intense, documentary-style realism to the film version of the TV classic "Miami Vice." The film is not meant to be an exact remake of the popular '80s television series, it is a darker more contemporary version for the new millennium.
Mann's visual style is one of the best in the business and it is well displayed in this film. Like Collateral (2004), "Miami Vice" was filmed on location in HD with digital cameras. The shaky hand-held shots and high definition picture give the film a documentary like realism. Dion Beebe's cinematography was beautiful, artfully filling each frame yet still giving the film an amateurish documentary feel. Like Collateral (2004) Mann used natural light to light each scene and the street lights of Miami provided a subdued orange and blue glow. Collateral (2004) provided one of the most amazing and beautiful visual depictions of LA ever on film, but "Miami Vice" does not do the same for the city of Miami. At times the digital picture can become too grainy (especially when the theater is equipped with DLP) and the hand-held feel of the camera can get annoying. The sound engineering for the film was some of the best you'll hear, very realistic. Audioslave provided much of the film's musical score, which was really quite poor overall.
"Miami Vice" has Mann's great visual style but the rest of the film is disappointing. Colin Farrell and Jamie Fox certainly aren't your mom's Crockett and Tubbs. Both actors played their roles serious and super macho, and there was no real chemistry between them. At times it seemed both actors just spouted out their lines. Colin Farrell's attempt at a southern accent is laughable, I'd rather have him play the role with a full blown Irish accent. His hair and mustache also looked like he came right out of an episode of "My Name is Earl." Jamie Foxx did not have a lot of material to work with and I just don't think he is cut out for serious action films. I think Foxx is better at character work and supporting roles (think "Ray" and "Collateral"). The villains in the film were not scary and were certainly no match for Farrell and Foxx. The bad guy's henchmen and other extras were more realistic and intimidating.
The story unfolds in many different locations: Miami, Cuba and South America, providing many unintelligible accents. It was hard to understand many of the characters due to their accents (I would have liked subtitles for Colin Farrell). Mann's screenplay, sadly, is predictable and a bit thin. There was a lot of riding in boats, looking tough, and not a lot of quality dialog. You would think a movie with no dialog would have some action but this one does not. The action heats up only in the second hour! The film was also filled with 3 or 4 gratuitous sex scenes. The love story between Farrell and Li Gong was boring and brought the flow of the film to a halt.
Does the film have any cool cars at least? Yes: Ferraris, Bentleys, BMWs, Cadillac Escalades and an '06 Dodge Charger SRT-8. The film does have a few homages to the show including the classic scene of Crocket and Tubbs in profile, cruising down the freeway in a Ferrari convertible.
Michael Mann's film version of "Miami Vice" is certainly no campy remake like we see so much of today. The film has some of Mann's great style but I expected much more. If you are expecting pastel suits, '80s rock and lots of car chases beware: Mann's "Vice" is a dark, sluggish, gritty crime drama.
Mann's visual style is one of the best in the business and it is well displayed in this film. Like Collateral (2004), "Miami Vice" was filmed on location in HD with digital cameras. The shaky hand-held shots and high definition picture give the film a documentary like realism. Dion Beebe's cinematography was beautiful, artfully filling each frame yet still giving the film an amateurish documentary feel. Like Collateral (2004) Mann used natural light to light each scene and the street lights of Miami provided a subdued orange and blue glow. Collateral (2004) provided one of the most amazing and beautiful visual depictions of LA ever on film, but "Miami Vice" does not do the same for the city of Miami. At times the digital picture can become too grainy (especially when the theater is equipped with DLP) and the hand-held feel of the camera can get annoying. The sound engineering for the film was some of the best you'll hear, very realistic. Audioslave provided much of the film's musical score, which was really quite poor overall.
"Miami Vice" has Mann's great visual style but the rest of the film is disappointing. Colin Farrell and Jamie Fox certainly aren't your mom's Crockett and Tubbs. Both actors played their roles serious and super macho, and there was no real chemistry between them. At times it seemed both actors just spouted out their lines. Colin Farrell's attempt at a southern accent is laughable, I'd rather have him play the role with a full blown Irish accent. His hair and mustache also looked like he came right out of an episode of "My Name is Earl." Jamie Foxx did not have a lot of material to work with and I just don't think he is cut out for serious action films. I think Foxx is better at character work and supporting roles (think "Ray" and "Collateral"). The villains in the film were not scary and were certainly no match for Farrell and Foxx. The bad guy's henchmen and other extras were more realistic and intimidating.
The story unfolds in many different locations: Miami, Cuba and South America, providing many unintelligible accents. It was hard to understand many of the characters due to their accents (I would have liked subtitles for Colin Farrell). Mann's screenplay, sadly, is predictable and a bit thin. There was a lot of riding in boats, looking tough, and not a lot of quality dialog. You would think a movie with no dialog would have some action but this one does not. The action heats up only in the second hour! The film was also filled with 3 or 4 gratuitous sex scenes. The love story between Farrell and Li Gong was boring and brought the flow of the film to a halt.
Does the film have any cool cars at least? Yes: Ferraris, Bentleys, BMWs, Cadillac Escalades and an '06 Dodge Charger SRT-8. The film does have a few homages to the show including the classic scene of Crocket and Tubbs in profile, cruising down the freeway in a Ferrari convertible.
Michael Mann's film version of "Miami Vice" is certainly no campy remake like we see so much of today. The film has some of Mann's great style but I expected much more. If you are expecting pastel suits, '80s rock and lots of car chases beware: Mann's "Vice" is a dark, sluggish, gritty crime drama.