| Overall Grade: |
D- |
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| Story: |
F |
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| Acting: |
D- |
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| Direction: |
D- |
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| Visuals: |
D- |
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A Name-Only Adaptation of an 80s Icon
by M.E.H (movies profile)
Oct 2, 2007
61
of
90 people found this review helpful
To say that the movie adaptation of "Miami Vice" was a disappointment would be an injustice to anyone who actually reads what I have to say here. A more apt description would read something like this: "This movie STUNK like a pig farm on a hot and humid day."
I didn't really find a plot thread in "Miami Vice." It did, however, tend to follow a common pattern of car chase, shooting, sexual escapade, new paper-thin character introduced, exhibition of machismo, do something with bags of drugs, repeat, then big shootout of some sort at the very end. The dialogue was difficult to understand but what I could discern was mostly "Here's how it's going to work" or "so-and-so did this-and-that" or things of that nature. The characters were clearly afterthoughts, since insights into their personalities were neither interesting nor logical.
The acting was pathetic. Then again, Colin Farrell was in it, so maybe my hopes shouldn't have been so damn high. Still, I expected more from Jamie Foxx, Naomie Harris, and Gong Li. None of them provided any spark or pizazz to their already flimsy characters. In all fairness, of course, this wasn't the fault of any of the actors (not even Colin Farrell).
Michael Mann was the one who wrote and directed this fiasco, so the blame lies with him. All of the charm and interest that came with the 1980s television series was written out of the script he wrote from it. No one was expecting Oscar-caliber material, but would a script that emphasized the best of the original series be too much to ask?
The worst part was that the visuals were sub-par. All of the night shots were difficult to see because of how grainy the film was. It didn't help that the cameraman seemed to be having a conniption fit half the time when shooting the scenes. I seriously didn't need close-ups of Jamie Foxx's thumb or of Colin Farrell's bad attempt at an 80s mullet a la Don Johnson. The original "Miami Vice" series was all about the flashy colors and the impressive opulence, but it wasn't anywhere to be found in this movie.
This movie was neither worth the $6.50 nor the two and a half hours I spent in the theater. It lacked the great visuals and music that made the TV show popular. I wouldn't recommend this movie to ANYONE for ANY reason. |
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