I saw Miami Vice the other night. It was actually the perfect group to see a movie: a public relations guy, a print journalist and a photojournalist.
We all agreed, it was good. It’s not great and while stylish and well done, the movie doesn’t attempt to do more than it is supposed to.
It also overtook what is now only being called “Pirates” in its most recent television spot, which features techno music and quick moves and jumps.
And that is how many critics are viewing Miami Vice. Good. Movies.com gave the film a B+ and the critics they poll are even more generous, while Movies.com readers dropped the movie all the way down to a C-.
The New Yorker criticized “Vice,” saying that the movie was much darker and bloodier than the television series. This is certainly true, but not much more so than any other film-tv or tv-film transition. M*A*S*H the movie was much dirtier than the M*A*S*H the television show. (The movie came first in that case, however.) The big screen just allows for more by its nature.
What does the PR guy say? B. Good.
The movie will not go down as an all-time great, but it is a dramatic action movie brimming with sex, guns, drugs and complicated camera moves. The fight scenes, while well choreographed, are hard to follow at times until the one big BOOM where someone gets it in the head.
The acting is better than your average action movie, but that is no surprise coming from Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell.
“Miami Vice” is very much a man’s action movie, but with the money it’s making, women are obviously checking it out too.
Give it a shot, and go see it. It’s good.