Miami Vice 2006:Review


Remington

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I like a challenge once in a while.

I first saw this movie in 2012 when I was just about done with the series. Unsurprisingly, I wasn't impressed. Also, make sure you watch the directors cut. It improves it at least a little.

For starters, I just don't like the casting. Colin Farrell is a good actor. I especially liked him in Phone Booth. However, he is no Sonny Crockett. Especially when compared to Don Johnson. I can't stand the hokey gruff voice, the wannabe macho attitude, or that dorky mustache.

Jamie Foxx is even worse. Personally I just can't stand the guy. Looks creepy to me. Philip Michael Thomas's character was hella cool. Foxx's Tubbs is just a thug. Don't wanna waste any more time on him.

The rest of the OCB team isn't much better. I like Naomie Harris, even though she's overused as Moneypenny, but even she isn't very good in this. She uses an extremely annoying voice. The girl who played Gina was cute but forgettable. I barely remember who played Zito. I like the guy who played Switek but still not up to much. And don't get me started on "Castillo". There's just no personality to these characters.

Gong Li is a decent actress and gives an okay performance. I actually do like the character of Jose Yuro. He was kind of a slimeball which has always worked for MV.

There are some good things about the film. The pros include the gorgeous opening boat race, some of the music, the Havana sequence with the boat ride and dancing, some of the action, and I actually like the final five minutes. The middle of the film where it focuses on Crockett and Izabella is the most like the series. Also I really enjoy the cinematography and a few of the locations. Most notably the plane going through the clouds, the house by the falls, and the night sequence with the boats going really fast.

But unfortunately, the film as a whole is forgettable and kind of boring. Whenever I watch it, which isn't often, I can barely remember whats going to happen. Even worse, I don't really care. And it's too long. The fact that the film barely has any scenes in Miami is an insult. So overall this is just not Miami Vice.

Time to watch the series again. Cheers.:p

2.5/10

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I watch this movie once a year actually. Michael Mann is such a tremendous filmmaker and brought some innovation to the world of film making that I honestly hoped I was missing something on previous viewings. Nope. Still a failure. Glad you mentioned personality as that is one of the film's biggest failings. For some reason Mann took the documentary-esque approach with this film as meaning to give your characters such little personality other than walking trigger pullers when things turn violent. It's supposed to be a reboot for newer audiences yet if you haven't actually seen and really know the original show you'd be pretty lost as Mann took no time to really give characters a chance to introduce themselves. Justin Theroux is the one playing Zito and sadly the biggest waste of the film. He's a terrific actor but the film gave Zito little to no character other than to just be there for the shoot-out towards the end. The only performance that I really took away as memorable was actually Ciaran Hinds as the FBI agent Fujima and felt he would fit well on the original show.

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Wow! I've seen that movie twice, and I never realized Zito was played by Theroux! "A waste" is right! He is a great actor. He's also a very style-conscious person--unlike 1985 Zito! :)

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Michael Mann was on such a role, Manhunter (1986), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral...

Collateral is a masterpiece and I had really high hopes for Miami Vice that would follow. It has one or two memorable moments but it's a really poor film.

He hasn't made a good film since Collateral. Anything with Johnny Depp in is bad. Blackhat I couldn't even understand.

 2011Luck (TV Series) (1 episode) 
Episode #1.1 (2011)
 2009Public Enemies 
 2006Miami Vice
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Be glad you weren't around on .org when the movie first came out!  The battles between members who loved it or hated it became the worst s*#t storm the site has ever seen!  There was no such thing as a reasonable discussion. Our old buddy srobak led the group who loved it and anyone who had feelings to the contrary was labeled as the enemy! it wasn't pretty!

I wasn't impressed by the movie. My thoughts at the time were that it would've been better if he didn't call it "Miami Vice" but if he didn't it would've been labeled a "Miami Vice" ripoff anyway.

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  • 1 year later...

I am in the camp that loves this film.  I own it and watch it a lot.  I think that if you listen to Mann's commentary, and get a sense of what he was after (which was NOT a direct remake/translation of the show) then it's easier to like it.  The sensibilities are obviously a little different, but all the Mann recurring themes are still there.  Such as time is luck and the issue of identity and immersion in one's work etc.  The styles are different in the 2000s  but I experienced a lot of the same atmosphere and moods as many episodes of the show.  This is very much a Mann film and I hope he even does a sequel, or a trilogy.  That may not be likely but I know Foxx wants to.

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  • 3 years later...

I tried to watch this film after finishing the series, and I couldn't even make it through the entire movie before shutting it off. My biggest problem with the film is that the characters are portrayed entirely different than they are in the show. I understand that Mann wanted a more realistic and gritty approach, and that's fine, but Miami Vice (2006) could have changed the character names and I would have never know it was an MV movie, and for me that's a problem. The show could be gritty and serious at times, but it (almost) always retained a playfulness to it, usually due to the witty or funny dialogue among the main cast. Those characters had chemistry. I realize a show has the benefit of building character arcs over a vast amount of time, a luxury that films don't have, but I feel like MV (06) just throws the audience into the action and never establishes who anyone is. (As far as I watched anyways). I respect Mann's style, and his desire to not doing a complete retread, but there are certain expectations that come with calling a movie Miami Vice, and you must respect the fanbase, and the roots of the original IP. Miami Vice (06) is just a wasted opportunity, IMO. 

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On 6/1/2017 at 5:51 AM, Marc said:

Michael Mann was on such a role, Manhunter (1986), The Last of the Mohicans (1992), Heat (1995), The Insider (1999), Ali (2001), Collateral...

Collateral is a masterpiece and I had really high hopes for Miami Vice that would follow. It has one or two memorable moments but it's a really poor film.

He hasn't made a good film since Collateral. Anything with Johnny Depp in is bad. Blackhat I couldn't even understand.

 2011Luck (TV Series) (1 episode) 
Episode #1.1 (2011)
 2009Public Enemies 
 2006Miami Vice

Let's not forget "The Jericho Mile" and "Thief". Great film's also.

I think all top filmmakers lose their edge in the end, its natural. 

Scorsese for example hasn't made a great film since "GoodFellas"

 

 

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3 minutes ago, RedDragon86 said:

Let's not forget "The Jericho Mile" and "Thief". Great film's also.

I think all top filmmakers lose their edge in the end, its natural. 

Scorsese for example hasn't made a great film since "GoodFellas"

 

 

I (mostly) agree. I haven't seen William Friedkin's latest film, Killer Joe, but I really enjoyed Bug (2006), and that was way after his 'prime.' 

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1 hour ago, AKUS_1985 said:

I (mostly) agree. I haven't seen William Friedkin's latest film, Killer Joe, but I really enjoyed Bug (2006), and that was way after his 'prime.' 

His last great one was back in 1985 "To Live and Die in LA"

Even Francis Ford Coppola went stale after "Apocalypse Now" making rubbish like Dracula and Jack. Ridley Scott hasn't made a good film in years as well.

Edited by RedDragon86
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  • 1 year later...

Don't know if anyone wants to do this, but has anyone correlated the locations used in the movie with those in the series? Just curious which places Mann used over again and what popular episodes they may have been in. A couple are obvious like the bridge, right?

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1 hour ago, Bren10 said:

Don't know if anyone wants to do this, but has anyone correlated the locations used in the movie with those in the series? Just curious which places Mann used over again and what popular episodes they may have been in. A couple are obvious like the bridge, right?

This should cover it:

http://www.floridamovielocations.org/page16.html

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