Movie Review: Miami Vice

Director: Michael Mann
Producing Studio: Universal Studios
Trailer
KCRW Review with Joe Morgenstern
IGN.com review

With Michael Mann at the helm being entertained is nearly a sure thing. I enjoyed Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, Robbery Homicide Division, and Collateral. And in spite of my initial hesitation after screening the reviews on imdb.com, I was pleased with his latest movie.

Most of the film was shot in the similar style as Collateral with some even more free cam shots especially during the final shoot out, which helps add to the feeling of confusion. As with Heat, and Collateral all the gun shot sounds are not your typical bang bang, but ring more true to sound tracks provided by the embedded reporters in Iraq.

One of the major complaints of the critics on imdb was that the movie had no plot and seemed to jump all over the place. This is completely untrue. The difference is that Mann doesn't spoon feed the audience as most Hollywood movies do, but rather asks the audience to become engaged in the movie and connect some of the dots.

The action sequences were part of the plot and they weren't so blown out of proportion or all consuming that the bits in between feel like filler. The one weakness of the film is getting the audience to buy into the relationship between Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett (Colin Farrell) and Isabella (Li Gong). The relationship is more or less thrust onto the viewer with little to no explanation, and if you don't buy into it you're left behind for the rest of the movie since it becomes a pivotal part of the plot. Mann raises the question of how deep is too deep for undercover, but never really gets around to tackling it head on, which may have been his intent. He also doesn't take the time to provide any explanation of how a young Asian woman became the right hand of an international Columbian drug cartel. This is a fatal flaw, but since he did introduce a female mob boss (an unusually character in Hollywood) it would have been nice if he'd given the audience a little more an explanation.

All in all this was an entertaining film, and if the trailer draws you in won't be disappointed (however don't expect an action packed thriller). If you enjoyed Collateral or Heat you shouldn't be disappointed by Miami Vice either, but not much would be lost in waiting for the rental.