Moody Miami

Miami Vice (4.5/5 stars)

In this adaptation of the old TV series from director Michael Mann, we are given a mood and action-driven recreation of the show that is much different and improved from the original. Gone are the 1980s influenced pastel scenery and characters, and introduced is a bleak, dreary mood crime drama full of gritty action and angry characters.

The story is that one night while investigating a completely unrelated assignment, undercover Miami police officers Sonny Crocket (Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) are drawn into a seperate investigation after a couple of FBI agents are killed on a blown investigation due to a leak to the criminals about the agents' real identities. While initially they are set to sniff out the leak, they are drawn into infiltrating and breaking up a much larger international drug operation by actually helping to smuggle drugs into the country themselves to get in good graces with the organization itself.

Both of the leads do a good job at their parts here; Colin Farrell is good as the brooding Crocket, Foxx as the angry Tubbs. While the movie doesn't really explain why these men are how they are, that isn't really the point; right away we know them and it is interesting to see how they react to the pressures and stresses of their investigation and the pitfalls that befall them. Additionally, Gong Li is great as a member of the international drug cartel and Crocket's dual love-interest and in-road into the crime organization. I think the criticism given to her accent by some other reviewers is flawed, she isn't supposed to be playing a first-language English character, what does everyone expect? Luis Tosar as the primary villain is also a treat and deliciously mean.

The plot, while sometimes confusing (the organization isn't really completely explained, and the level of deep cover involved is passed over to an extent in order to save time), is not that hard to understand once you boil it down. What the movie is really about is the atmosphere and the mood of the characters interacting with each other, even though their motivations are never completely explained. There are bits here and there of punchy dialogue, and excellent action sequences, especially one towards the end which I would go out on a limb and say is one of the best shoot-out scenes I've seen in a movie since Mann's previous work, Heat. What really makes this movie stand out in my opinion is Mann's brilliant direction and camera work. The movie is simply a joy to look at, sink in and take in the atmosphere.

While not nearly as good as Heat, this movie is definitely in my opinion better than Mann's previous effort Collateral (and as a side note, I am pleased to note that it doesn't have to rely on a cellphone out of batteries as a plot device). Unlike the first those two movies I've mentioned, this movie doesn't focus on characters facing up against each other (like Pacino vs. De Niro in Heat or Cruise vs. Foxx in Collateral); it takes a simple story and adds a different dimension in texture. I would recommend it if you are a fan of Mann and can appreciate an excellent procedural crime saga without needing to see characters have psychological battles with each other or to have their motivations explained.