Review of Miami Vice (2006) by Ali R — 16 Jun 2010

When I first saw it I didn't really know what was going on, who was who, who's Crockett? who's Burnett? I just couldn't get into it, I didn't care about the people on screen.

Then I decided to watch the TV series. I saw the pilot episode and I was blown away. 111 episodes later, I decided to watch the movie for a second time and it was a completely different experience. It only took less than one episode of Miami VIce for me to care about Don Johnson (Sonny Crockett) and Philip Michael Thomas( Rico Tubbs). So by the time I got to the movie the second time, these characters had already meant a lot to me.

Is the movie better than the TV series? Not even close. That's why Michael Mann gave it the right approach to modernize it. It's not as flashy or cool or as awesome as the TV show because it doesn't take place in cool 80's, its in the shitty 2000's.Colin Farrell plays Crockett, Don Johnson is Crockett, Jamie Fox plays Tubbs, Philip Michael Thomas is Tubbs. They don't compare , neither does the rest of the cast with the original cast.

As a stand alone movie, Miami Vice works really well. It well made, beautifully shot. It doesnt take place in the 80's so don't expect it to be as cool as the Tv show. The tone is going to be different because of the different time period. It feels more realistic and it has the same tone of Michael Mann's previous films,it has its flaws,its entertaining but don't expect a masterpiece.