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.

Not gonna get too much into it, will just say that it was pretty good, though with a little work to the script (dialogue, yes, but also how it evoked Crockett's and Tubbs's lives and identities outside of their lives/identities undercover), it could have neared excellent.

Visually, it was beautiful, though this should come as no surprise given who directed it. I was also satisfied stylistically; an updated remake, yes, but for the most part it held true (to the original series) in terms of pattern and theme (i.e., cars, boats, guns, clothes, clubs).

The acting was, given the limitations of a script that didn't really demand all too much of players, pretty good.

The script was, as I wrote above, adequate, but not something I would lavish with any significant praise. There were two scenes where the dialogue ventured well into the territory of trite, but only two scenes, and, more problematically, I wanted to be made more aware of the lines that were being blurred (by their going deep, deep undercover).

On the whole, though, this was good entertainment. The music was good, the action sequences were well-wrought, the tension was kept in-line with a narrative arc that did basically had no missteps. And like I said, it's a beautiful movie.

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.

This is a story about being undercover, and what happens when you go deep undercover.Particularly if you're doing an operation in a foreign country, where your badge doesn't count and where you can't have SWAT team surveillance you, and people are not in contact, you really are out on the edge. It's the allure of doing that undercover work and what happens to you when you're deep in that role of that fabricated identity. These roles protagonists(Colin Farrell,Jamie Foxx as Sonny Crockett and Tubbs) are filled by real deal. This is a cool film directed by Michael Mann. He tells that his ambitions with a picture like that was to really go exploring into some of diverse areas. It's shot in location Scout, South America. One of the exciting things about Michael Mann is the choosing real location all the time. We're dealing with environment that can often surprise us. Whether it's the light, whether it's dramatic moment with the sky, or some interior or some sort of background action that would not have happened in a controlled backlog situation. Michael gets this slickness, finding places, that, you know , that aren't even on the map.He makes as real as he possibly can. He's all about, why fake it, when you can do it for real? . The cameraman Dion Beebe gets a maximum chromatic saturation. The shooting in these places like Ciudad del Este is incredibly stimulating and exciting.It's a Tri-border area where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet. It's such a unique part of the world. This town have people who are from Middle East, Lebanese and Syrians, a lot of ethnic Chinese and the country speaks Guarani, which is the indigenous language. These people were extras and director got to be pretty determined to get a crew to these places. Also was shot a lot of stuff in the Dominican Republic and in some areas, it took a lot of social engineering to be able to bring a film company in and shoot responsibly and shoot safely. The main shooting is Miami, it's kind of globalized city with a huge population and a lot of money, and lot of people from Haiti, Brazil, Venezuela Columbia. In the movie Miami seems to have elevated itself, up into the most sensual which is up into the air.It's reflected the storm systems, the clouds, the dramatic weather and nature in a very, almost tactile way. Filming in really swank, fantastic places, and the girls are still beautiful(Gong Li, Naomie Harris,Elizabeth Rodriguez) and the cars are still fast but doesn't pull any punches when it comes to the underbelly of Miami.The city is photographed with alluring, it's very attractive, very engaging , sensual and also very dangerous and things that we can see around the images; furthermore an atmospheric music score by John Murphy. The motion picture is well realized by the successful director Michael Mann.

From director Michael Mann and based on the 1980s television series comes this flashy, but overlong and unfocused Miami action flick about Vice detectives Sonny Crockett (Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Foxx) who must go deep undercover and throw their personal lives into disarray in order to stop an international drug trafficking scheme. Pulls you in with its stylish direction and flamboyant visuals, but the two leads have poor chemistry, character development is almost nonexistent, and the film drags on from one convoluted plot twist to the next. Action scenes provide a spark every once in a while, but overall the film is frustrating and never provides one single reason to care about any of its characters! A disappointment considering the cast and crew involved. **