The drama behind this film is misleading. The online bloggers are skeptical, and I had been exposed to quite a bit of pre-release negative feedback. I went into the theater with no hopes. I expected a poorly edited, poorly acted, poorly shot film with a bit of action. But film making has changed. With a world flooded by reality television and celebrity scandal tapes, it was only a matter of time before it began seeping through to film. Michael Mann has developed a style which condescends almost anything that could be taught in film school. "Nobody knows nothing." Simply put, I think that more and more films will start to 'fake' this reality style. It is not quite documentary, not quite film, but now with digital video cameras appearing in shapes and sizes beyond our dreams, there is now less to know about successfully creating a film. Mann uses a plethora of cameras. From very low surveillance quality, to higher speed HDCam.
Besides his unique style, the story was told with a grand view. Mann really humanized such a wide range of characters. From sadistic drug lords to creative cops. OK, well maybe the acting was not Oscar worthy, maybe it wasn't very good at all. But I for one could care less. Gong Li was very good, and very beautiful, and everyone else was just very cool. That is why we want to see a film like this anyway, is it not? We just want to see a bunch of bad ass cops get in too deep, and then take out every foreign smuggler.
Yes the film looks poorly shot, but it was intentional. That is the whole point. It could be you holding the camera. Its just another voyeuristic technique. Have we forgotten Rear Window? I'm not saying Michael Mann is Hitchcock, but maybe he will find the perfect story which compliments his style. I sure as hell think Miami Vice and Mann go pretty well together.
Besides his unique style, the story was told with a grand view. Mann really humanized such a wide range of characters. From sadistic drug lords to creative cops. OK, well maybe the acting was not Oscar worthy, maybe it wasn't very good at all. But I for one could care less. Gong Li was very good, and very beautiful, and everyone else was just very cool. That is why we want to see a film like this anyway, is it not? We just want to see a bunch of bad ass cops get in too deep, and then take out every foreign smuggler.
Yes the film looks poorly shot, but it was intentional. That is the whole point. It could be you holding the camera. Its just another voyeuristic technique. Have we forgotten Rear Window? I'm not saying Michael Mann is Hitchcock, but maybe he will find the perfect story which compliments his style. I sure as hell think Miami Vice and Mann go pretty well together.