Miami Vice (C+ or 2/4 stars)
Based on a popular (and superior) 1980's TV show, 'Miami Vice' is an action/drama directed by Michael Mann. After a colossal security breach in the Joint Inter-Agency Task Force, the FBI search for help from Miami authorities. This top-notch assignment goes to Detectives Ricardo Tubbs (Jamie Foxx) & James Crockett (Colin Farrell). Going undercover as outlaw drug smugglers, they take on a multi-drug trafficking brigade led by Arcangel de Jesus Montoya-Londono & his Chinese-Cuban banker, Isabella (Gong Li). Action commences, love scenes smolder, etc. I have a gut feeling that this movie has little or nothing to do with the famous TV show. The plot is hypnotizing and ordinary. And the feel of the movie is just way too grim.
Ric & James do the best they can to fool the drug traffickers (James is particularly good at swaying Isabella). Farrell plays James as charming, seducing, flirty, & ragged. They jump in his speedboat, race across the ocean to Cuba, sip on mojitos, dance, & make love. Will Isabella be able to find out who James really is? Can she blow his cover before she gets in trouble with the leader of the brigade? This segment takes up most of the film, so what happened to the plot? Is that it? The opening action sequence & meeting with the drug traffickers sets the stage for only this love affair? THIS is Miami Vice? Hell, we barely see Miami!
And what of Ricardo? Aside from him looking fierce & pensive in whatever few scenes he is actually in, the only purpose for him to be in this film is to show-off his perfectly toned naked body in a love scene with his girl, fellow Det. Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris of 28 Days Later). Oh, I forgot. He flies a plane and shoots some guns in the end, too. And what of the chemistry between our good guys? Aren't they supposed to be partners who feed off of each other in an attempt to do some good? Where was that? It isn't in THIS movie. I just saw Memoirs of a Geisha with Gong Li as Hatsumomo. And here she pops-up again in this film; she sure is getting around. She's very attractive, & the only 'pulse' to be found in this inherently somber movie.
While it appears that I hated this film, I actually found some saving graces. While Jamie Foxx is barely in this, I feel he portrays a better Ricardo than Farrell portrays James. Some of his thought processes are intriguing, and his love for Det. Trudy is apparent. But he is barely here except to move the hanging-by-a-thread plot along. The action sequences, shoot-outs, guns, fast cars ... they're all here. They're all standard. But nothing is overly exciting; I've seen it all before, and executed better. And as I've said, Gong Li's presence & her chemistry with James is ions superior than his camaraderie with Ricardo ... that's a huge problem. The pace is slow at times. There's not enough 'Miami'. The drug story is tired. Nothing is flat out bad, but EVERYTHING is mediocre & numbing.
Ric & James do the best they can to fool the drug traffickers (James is particularly good at swaying Isabella). Farrell plays James as charming, seducing, flirty, & ragged. They jump in his speedboat, race across the ocean to Cuba, sip on mojitos, dance, & make love. Will Isabella be able to find out who James really is? Can she blow his cover before she gets in trouble with the leader of the brigade? This segment takes up most of the film, so what happened to the plot? Is that it? The opening action sequence & meeting with the drug traffickers sets the stage for only this love affair? THIS is Miami Vice? Hell, we barely see Miami!
And what of Ricardo? Aside from him looking fierce & pensive in whatever few scenes he is actually in, the only purpose for him to be in this film is to show-off his perfectly toned naked body in a love scene with his girl, fellow Det. Trudy Joplin (Naomie Harris of 28 Days Later). Oh, I forgot. He flies a plane and shoots some guns in the end, too. And what of the chemistry between our good guys? Aren't they supposed to be partners who feed off of each other in an attempt to do some good? Where was that? It isn't in THIS movie. I just saw Memoirs of a Geisha with Gong Li as Hatsumomo. And here she pops-up again in this film; she sure is getting around. She's very attractive, & the only 'pulse' to be found in this inherently somber movie.
While it appears that I hated this film, I actually found some saving graces. While Jamie Foxx is barely in this, I feel he portrays a better Ricardo than Farrell portrays James. Some of his thought processes are intriguing, and his love for Det. Trudy is apparent. But he is barely here except to move the hanging-by-a-thread plot along. The action sequences, shoot-outs, guns, fast cars ... they're all here. They're all standard. But nothing is overly exciting; I've seen it all before, and executed better. And as I've said, Gong Li's presence & her chemistry with James is ions superior than his camaraderie with Ricardo ... that's a huge problem. The pace is slow at times. There's not enough 'Miami'. The drug story is tired. Nothing is flat out bad, but EVERYTHING is mediocre & numbing.