Review of Dick Tracy (1990) by Hugo S — 09 May 2008

DICK TRACY (1990).

Directed by Warren Beatty.

Starring Warren Beatty, Al Pacino, MadonnaDick Tracy: «Is the enemy of my enemy my friend, or is the enemy of my friend my enemy?»Pat Patton: «Tracy, what'd you say?»Dick Tracy: «Or enemy of my enemy my enemy?»Pat Patton: «What'd he say?»Dick Tracy: «The enemy of my enemy is my enemy.»Sam Catchem: «He said the enemy of his enemy is his enemy.»Pat Patton: «Oh.»Created back in 1931 by Chester Gould, Dick Tracy is one of the earlier comic book «superhero» to appear into the American culture. No special powers and no special costumes, except maybe his hat and suit, but his attitude was what made him special. He was smart, incoruptible and committed to his job.In 1990, Warren Beatty decided to adapted the comic strip into a feature film. The final result is a mix betwee Tim Burton's Batman and Brian DePalma's The Untouchables.Visually speaking the film is absolutely stunning, using edgy visual effects looking half realistic and half cartoonish. Vittorio Storaro's cinematography is amazing as usual and will all those colors, he and Beatty managed to capture that comic book essence that almost no one else has, not even in the recent trend of superhero movies.Beatty is alright as Tracy, the detective who doesnt have time for his girlfriend cause he absolutely want to catch Big Boy Caprice, the new mobster leader. He also has to look after a homeless kid he saved from an abusive man and his attraction from a beutiful lady that could help him catch the gangster.The cast of the film is impressive, even big names play samller role. Al Pacino is amazing as the big boss, Dustin Hoffman is hilarious as Mumble, hs name says it all. Charlie Kosmo is in the right tone of annoyance as the kid and Madonna is a bit annoying but she looks good.That film is all style over substance, but even in the comic strips Dick Tracy was never anything too complicated in terms of character study, and for that reason Beatty's film is quite faithful to the source material. Especially when comes the bad guys with those grotesque faces reminescent of the drawings in the strips.Dick Tracy is a film that capture the comic book style perfectly, wether in its tone or in its visual qualities. I think its not for everyone's appreciation but I do dig those colors, cool settings and weird visual effects. Plus Danny Elfman's music can never hurt a film. I believe its one of the finest comic book adaptations that wasnt made in the 2000's.