Miami Vice

When I first commented on this movie, I was furious. First, I couldn't tell why this was being adapted into a movie from the 80's TV show, but with that aside, secondly, I couldn't figure out how I felt about Colin Farrell (with his gruff voice throughout the whole movie trying to replace Don Johnson as Crockett) and Jamie Foxx playing Tubbs (especially because I always loved Foxx's more comedic acting over his serious roles). I saw it in the theater the first time around, and everything just felt completely off-putting for me, even little things like not including the trademark theme song from the TV show to hype up the movie.

So I lost that initial impression altogether with a second viewing. I forgot that they never used the original theme music. I overlooked Farrell's acting like Don Johnson. And I had time (and subtitles for most of the overly specific commands and subtle name changes that the characters used throughout the film) to sit back and figure everything out without being uncomfortably squirming around in a theater chair to view it. Although I felt that some music changes would've gotten this film a higher score with my taste in soundtracks (or maybe a loss of the random sex scenes between the two vice partners and the included music in those changed around), ultimately the DVD proved a lot of my primary opinion were false.

The camera-work was awesome (each scene being shot with a photograph included in place of a traditional storyboard layout). Time was put into the detail-oriented script almost to the point of confusion, for the audience at points, but in the long-run, the totally expanding life of a vice agent and the takeovers that are possible in the real world might be this sky-bound. Michael Mann deserves a lot of the credit for the entire film for its look and continuous feel throughout; this adaptation definitely could not have been made as complete without him as the director. And his tests for simple things (such as .50 caliber gun impact tests on a car) really show through in the final draft of the film.

All in all, the film deserves at least 7 stars as its rating. I don't know about seeing it again and again (mostly due to its heady-script and elongated duration of the film), but there are moments of the film that have you laughing to yourself abut how this drug-trade stuff goes on within vice squads. Very informative, very stylish and functional camera-work, and very worth seeing.

There is almost a documentary quality to this movie. Aside from one short sequence the film almost exclusively focuses on the characters at work. In essence the film is about two groups of exceptionally competent professionals- one set cops, one drug dealers - at work. And their work is a cat and mouse conflict between the two. There are almost no exposition or explanatory scenes. Similarly the film makes no concessions to the viewers in terms of the use professional jargon and language. The viewer is thrown in at the deep end, as in many documentaries, and has to work out for themselves what is going on.

In other words the film treats its viewers as intelligent people and challenges them to understand. If you are prepared to accept the film on these terms then it is quite a stunning experience - beautifully shot, well acted, with some exceptional and realistic action sequences - by one of the finest directors alive.

This film is several leagues ahead of the brainless pulp that often passes for thrillers or action movies. Outstanding.

I'm a huge fan of Michael Mann, Collateral and Heat are brilliant and this unfortunately doesn't live up to those two. Having said that it's a tense and scarily realistic film. I mean, there's no way cop life is like how it's portrayed in films like Bad Boys and the Rush Hour series.

Foxx and Farrell are solid as the focused partners, although it would have better to see more interaction between the two, they barely say two words to each other the whole film. The acting overall is very good, with Gong Li and Naomie Harris being the stand-outs.

There's no doubt the main feature of Mann's movies is his visual style. The night time atmosphere of Collateral is brilliant and he makes no exception here, providing plenty of great cityscapes and night shots. The soundtrack is also brilliant and bonds with the movie well, the highlight being the excellent "Auto Rock" by Mogwai thumping in the emotional finale.

I think the storyline is a weak point in Miami Vice and could have been stronger. I didn't have too much of an idea of what was going on half the time, but this again is part of the realistic cop scenario and avoids having an elaborate plot. I like the opening sequence when you're thrown straight into a heavy-hitting club scene, not sure whats happening and given no clues.

I admit Mann's thriller will not be for everyone and like most of his films, it may take multiple viewings to take everything in. It is clear though if you are looking for a non-stop action movie definitely avoid this. However, if you want a grown-up, intelligent, realistic thriller I would be happy to recommend it.

Due to Michael Mann's track record it was hard to go into this movie without very high expectations. After all, we are talking about the creator of arguably the greatest crime drama/thriller ever made with "Heat", as well as the highly entertaining "Collateral". But "Miami Vice" fails to live up to Mann's past success in the crime genre.

The plot is completely ordinary and doesn't offer up any unexpected twists and turns along the way. Because of this, the movie lacks intensity through much of the first and second acts, when everything that's happening is completely predictable.

However, pedestrian plot aside, the biggest disappointment was the manner in which the characters were developed. Both "Collateral" and "Heat" were notable for the way in which they delved deep into the psyche of the central characters, providing compelling personal drama to go along with the heists, hits and gunplay. But in "Miami Vice", we never really get to know the characters or their motivations beyond the surface level. And to make matters worse, Foxx and Farrell never develop the kind of rapport that's necessary to make a movie like this work on a high level. Compare Foxx and Farrell to Johnson and Thomas, or Gibson and Glover, and you'll see what I mean. Even though the "Miami Vice" movie aspires to be darker and grittier than "Lethal Weapon", which it is, it fails to be as dramatic because we never really come to care about the characters all that much. While there was clearly a conscious decision to downplay the "buddy" elements of the movie, the result is that Crockett and Tubbs seem so disconnected from each other on a personal level that it's hard to buy that they would die for each other, which we are expected to believe. The only relationship that is at all convincing or fleshed out is between Crockett and Isabella. The rest seem decidedly distant and undercooked.

What saves the film from being a bust is the visual splendor and great action sets. Mann once again proves that when it comes to creating a gritty atmosphere and staging shootouts, he's among the best in the business. When it comes to style, visuals, and atmosphere, "Miami Vice" is top notch.

In the end perhaps what hurt this movie most was studio deadlines and delays while shooting. It's been widely reported that Michael Mann had to feverishly edit this film just to get it into theaters on time, and in many ways that shows. There are multiple loose ends that are never tied up or explained, and several plot threads seem underdeveloped. I'm sure some day we will see a director's cut which approaches the 3 hour mark just like "Heat", and perhaps that version will overcome of the issues involving character development and plot holes in the theatrical version. Until then, "Miami Vice" is a movie that, while far from being a total failure, is none-the-less disappointing in that it had the potential to be a much more complete film than it is.

I thought the movie was slick and stylish, yet Mann gave absolutely no nods towards one of the biggest t.v shows of all time, aside from the characters having the same names and residing in Miami.

Where was the boat? The alligator? The ex-wife? The kid? Where was Miami? The scenes shot there could have pretty much been anywhere on the coastline of the States. Mann reportedly said a few years back that Miami isn't an interesting place to him anymore. Well he made that quite apparent with his new version of Miami Vice.

I, against popular opinion, actually thought he made a good choice in Farell. I don't really like the guy but he seems to be convincing in most of his roles, and who's better to play a party hard, rough around the edges renegade than a party hard, rough around the edges, erm, renegade.. ahem. But as it's been stated over and over, Farell and Foxx had no chemistry whatsoever. They barely even looked at each other. In fact, Foxx's role could have pretty much been played as well by most African American actors, given the amount of screen time the guy had.

I came out of the movie feeling like I wanted to hit a club, drink mojito's and pick up a model. Which I did, almost.

Miami Vice was a slick cop story with a shaky plot and cool visuals. But if you're looking for any references to the series then forget it, aside from a crap cover version of In The Air tonight thrown on during the end credits (originally sung by Phil Collins in the series pilot).

What was great about the series was the style, the attitude, the music. The film got one out of three of those right.