Blast From The Past

Michael Mann's new iteration of Miami Vice is not your dad's Miami Vice (or yours, depending on your age). He's completely reinvented it for the new millennium. Gone are the pastel shirts and sockless topsiders; they're replaced with a cool palette of stylish clothes. Also gone are Crockett and Tubb's witty banter and playfulness; these new guys are as serious as fucking cancer, and always on the job. And that's exactly how this movie is: After the Universal Pictures logo, you hear the opening strains of "Numb/Encore," and the movie's rolling. No credits, no introductory exposition; just move, move, move for the next two and a half hours. (The only holdover from the TV version is the Jan Hammer-esque music, and a cover of "In the Air Tonight" over the end credits.)

Honestly, Mann's the only one who could have directed this movie. I think he's one of the most underrated action directors of our times, and he's made yet another movie that's intelligent and action-packed, as well as absolutely beautiful. There is no one working today who makes HD DV look so good. And there's no one (maybe ever) who makes scenes at night look better. His cinematographer, Dion Beebe, makes the work of Kaminski and Doyle look like that of film students. You will not see a cooler-looking movie this year.

And speaking of cool, remember how Mann's Heat made you want to be a bank robber, he made it look so cool? This movie will totally make you want to be a vice cop. If driving to work in F430s and M6s, and taking impromptu jaunts to Cuba in a go-fast boat are SOP for Miami vice cops, sign me up. It must be the best life ever.

But, for all this coolness, the movie does have some problems. The plot is completely incomprehensible; not quite Mission:Impossible-incomprehensible, but it's pretty close. And, I'm not sure, but I don't think that English is Gong Li's first language (or second, for that matter); kinda makes all of her lines impossible to understand. But, other than that, a great flick. Check it out.