Miami Vice (2006) – Review

Directed by Michael Mann

With the success of Miami Vice, the TV series created by Anthony Yerkovich in the 80‚Äôs, it was likely that a big screen adaptation of the iconic and trendsetting show would be realised. Michael Mann who had been a part of the show since the beginning seemed the likely choice to take on the role of creative inspiration for the film as writer, producer and director. His sophisticated and detailed storytelling, coupled with a unique visual language has made him a highly respected and inventive filmmaker with over 30 years experience in the film industry…

Being a big fan of Michael Mann, I had high expectations for Miami Vice. The movie, which was shot in HD looked great with some jaw-dropping cinematography, especially in some of the outdoor scenes.

The movie starts off great throwing us (the audience) into the deep-end. An undercover cop ‘Alonzo Stevens’ has been comprised and his true identity revealed to the people he was working for. Detective Ricardo Tubbs played by Academy Award Winner Jamie Foxx and Detective ‘Sonny’ Crockett played by Colin Farrell, go undercover to infiltrate the organisation in an effort to find out who was the ‘leak’.

A great start to the movie quickly turns sour, because the plot seems to fade and we don’t learn much about the characters and don’t have a chance to strike up a raport with them. In an underdeveloped screenplay the scenes do not progress to move the plot forward and because of this the second act of the film is wishy-washy. Together with an underdeveloped script – the editing is somewhat contrived and the music doesn’t really suit the visual material in some scenes. The film does recover very slightly towards the end of the film, but by then it’s too late.

With a pedigree of work that includes Manhunter, The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Ali & Collateral – for me Miami Vice was very disappointing.

7/10