Review: Miami Vice
Nobody can top Michael Mann in the crime genre. With this, he’s solidified a spot among my top five directors (Fincher, Coen, Tykwer, Mann, Scorsese). At first, I didn’t give this a chance. But then I gave another chance, got really into it, and was blown away. And nothing bad happened! (that story’s for another time).
Apparently I watched the director’s cut version, based on what I read up on afterwards. That added an additional 5 minutes to the run time. Mann is able to avoid the cheesiness and kitsch of the original 1980s series (of which he helped create) and make a modern, relevant, and engaging tale of drug trafficking, infiltration, and sacrifice.
Foxx and Farrell play off of each other without an ounce of homo (something that’s hard to achieve in the buddy cop genre); I don’t even remember them touching each other once. The Cuban temptress, played by Chinese actress Gong Li, was a little annoying at first, but once she got to show some real emotion, she was able to steal the show, more or less.
This guy, Barry Shabaka Henley, is awesome; love the guy. And he’s even better as the jazz trumpet king from Collateral. The final shootout, which is amped up by a great calm-before-the-storm type scene, blows you away, and rivals Heat and Road To Perdition for most badass shootout. Speaking of Heat, some pieces of the score were straight up lifted into Vice; I could tell. No better place for them that here, though. When the authorities come upon the Archangel’s lair towards the end, it was very Manhunter, but alas, there was no Tooth Fairy inside. Love the Audioslave as well. The first track (‘The Shape Of Things To Come’) is played during the first sex scene. The next, (‘Wide Awake’) is played during more sex. By the time third one rolls around, they conditioned viewers into a Pavlovian response, only for there to be no sex.
I don’t think there’s ever been a moment on film more badass than Sonny asking a Isabella out for drink and driving from Colombia to Cuba in a go-fast boat in one night, just for shits. If I could choose one (just one!) movie that I could label hella-fuckin-balls-to-the-wall awesome, it would be this.
Heat > Collateral > Miami Vice > Manhunter > The Insider > Thief
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
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