Published at: July 28, 2006, 3:25 a.m. CST by staff
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I'm still really busy trying to catch up on my Comic-Con coverage, so I can't spend much time here. There have been several MIAMI VICE reviews up, so I'm sure you can get a decent consensus before deciding to head out to the theaters for this one.
Love Michael Mann. Loved COLLATERAL. One of my favorite movies the year it came out. This one isn't so effortlessly cool and ruthlessly engaging. Yikes... "ruthlessly engaging." I guess I just figured out how most "kitschy" reviewers work. They just type really fast trying to get through a review as quickly as they can and pop out whatever floats down their stream of consciousness.
But you know what I mean, I'm sure. COLLATERAL was different and great. Tom Cruise was different, Jamie Foxx was different, the cinematography was different, but it was all a good different. MIAMI VICE has the same vibe and tone of COLLATERAL, but it's not as consistent as that movie was. There are 3 or 4 sequences in MIAMI VICE that are hands down some of the most sweet-ass brutal shoot-em-ups I've seen in a long time. Those scenes alone are almost worth seeing the film for. If you want specifics, just look for the trailer sequence and the big shootout at the end.
I am a fan of Colin Farrell. I think his work is really solid in almost everything he does. He's a little odd here. He's very cold and at the beginning he delivers his lines like Michael Madsen in SIN CITY... a kind of choppy attempt at being "cool" and "noirish." About a quarter of the way into the movie, about the time he starts romancing Gong Li, his charisma and natural talent shows through and he never bugged me. Jamie Foxx is pretty damn cool in the flick, but... and it might just be me, but his "I'm serious" face looks like he has a poop on deck and can't quite hold it in. Somehow he manages to be really cool and quietly badass with that face on.
The film's pacing is odd, the plot even stranger. It jumps from sequence to sequence, plot point to plot point without really giving the audience any time to catch up. The film builds up to a certain plot point, then changes gears on you and just kind of throws that person or plot point away and starts building up to another thing.
Overall, I liked the flick, but it's far from perfect. If you're a fan of anybody involved, of course you should give it a try. As for me, I might catch it again when it hits cable, but I won't be seeing it again in theaters and I probably won't ever feel the urge to own it on DVD.
Sorry for the shortie review. Will have some good HOT FUZZ stuff coming to make up for it. Good night, folks!
