Miami Vice (2006)

I went to the cinema to see this, and I came away disapointed ! but on second viewing on DVD this film is a very good complex thriller. This has nothing to do with the 80's TV show, only Crocket and Tubbs names remain the same, the characters are very different. I can understand allot of people hateing this film as With all Michael ( HEAT ) Mann's films it's very stylish but it treats the audiance with intelligence and this film's plot is quite complex. Mann does not spend time trying to explain what's going on with all the double crossing and under cover operations, It's as if he's saying Get on the ride, and if you don't like it or can't understand it, then get off now ! He does not pull any punches or make excuses. The film oozes with warm clammy tention and the action is very real, swift and brutal. The final shoot out is the best shoot out since Mann directed HEAT. This is almost a 5 star movie, but some times it does feel a bit of style over substance, and it may take repeated… more »

I went to the cinema to see this, and I came away disapointed ! but on second viewing on DVD this film is a very good complex thriller. This has nothing to do with the 80's TV show, only Crocket and Tubbs names remain the same, the characters are very different. I can understand allot of people hateing this film as With all Michael ( HEAT ) Mann's films it's very stylish but it treats the audiance with intelligence and this film's plot is quite complex. Mann does not spend time trying to explain what's going on with all the double crossing and under cover operations, It's as if he's saying Get on the ride, and if you don't like it or can't understand it, then get off now ! He does not pull any punches or make excuses. The film oozes with warm clammy tention and the action is very real, swift and brutal. The final shoot out is the best shoot out since Mann directed HEAT. This is almost a 5 star movie, but some times it does feel a bit of style over substance, and it may take repeated viewing to get the most out of this underated movie, but please stick with it. A classy cop movie for grown up's .

Okay, so I left it a couple of days to allow the film to sink into my exhausted cerebral cortex, and exhausted is the only word I can use to be quite honest. No punches pulled in this film; there was only one instance of spoon feeding in the entire film (that I can remember and I'm glad they did otherwise I wouldn't have had the foggiest.) The film is riddled with technical terminology, cop lingo, Miami colloquialisms, and a number of other regionally specific vernaculars. All of this unusual language contributes to making the overall plot of the film seem far more complex than it actually is. Miami Vice has a distressingly simply story, there really isn't anything to it, however Mann's outstanding cinematography (a combination or HDCam and 35mm film) coupled with an extremely economic use of exposition mean that the story seems far more in-depth and intricate than it actually is. The attention to detail is outstanding; the use of weaponry is inspired, from Heat to Collateral, to… more »

Okay, so I left it a couple of days to allow the film to sink into my exhausted cerebral cortex, and exhausted is the only word I can use to be quite honest. No punches pulled in this film; there was only one instance of spoon feeding in the entire film (that I can remember and I'm glad they did otherwise I wouldn't have had the foggiest.) The film is riddled with technical terminology, cop lingo, Miami colloquialisms, and a number of other regionally specific vernaculars. All of this unusual language contributes to making the overall plot of the film seem far more complex than it actually is. Miami Vice has a distressingly simply story, there really isn't anything to it, however Mann's outstanding cinematography (a combination or HDCam and 35mm film) coupled with an extremely economic use of exposition mean that the story seems far more in-depth and intricate than it actually is. The attention to detail is outstanding; the use of weaponry is inspired, from Heat to Collateral, to Miami Vice Michael Mann just keeps on getting better and better at conveying guns as fast, deadly, and down right scary. The climatic shootout was so intense I had to remind myself to breath. (Not sure if it tops the botched bank job in Heat, but if it doesn't it's certainly a bloody good go.) The camera never seems to be more than a metre away from it's subjects at any given time, in fact occasionally it appears that a character might hit the lens if they move their face an inch closer, there is intensely close feel to everything happening, you're there right in the thick of it. Characters talk over each other, they make mistakes, and there is little grandstanding in fact pivotal moments in the film are given to the supporting cast at times. Farrel, and Foxx have very little character to play with but what they do have is executed extremely well, by the nature of their chosen profession and Mann's stressed attempts to convey this profession in as realistic a manner as possible within the confines of cinema.

As for the original show, never watched it and don't really want to. As I understand it, instead of sending the original up like Starsky and Hutch, they've chosen to re-invent it. Leaving this film looking, and sounding nothing like the original. I always feel that this is a much braver approach to re-makes, and I'm glad they chose the approach. As far as I can tell the only inherited traits are the title and the central characters names, and consequently they're two of the worst elements of the film. Personally I think they'd have been better dumping the original all together and going with new characters and definitely a new title. I can see a heap of complaints by narrow minded traditionalist going along the same lines as the Battlestar Galactica franchise: "It's not the same! I want the original actors back!" Go away and buy the box set then.

Having said all this, I now unfortunately have point out a number of flaws: The music supervisor for this film should be marched out to the front of Universal Studios and shot in the neck. There are some of the most atrocious choices in music cues that I've ever heard (and I'm not talking about personal taste) they're hideously inappropriate and dragged me right out of the film three or four times. During one already hideously inappropriate sex scene we are treated to India Arie "Ready For Love". On its own not a bad tune, but in this film it was awful, not seen anything so inappropriate since the Trinity and Neo sex scene in Matrix Reloaded. There are sort nu-metal tracks which seem dated already and in ten years I think Mann will bitterly regret his choices, and I thought he'd gotten over this after Manhunter and the Keep I was clearly wrong.