Movie Guy signing in.  Saw Miami Vice this past weekend.  I will say this: if you like sex, drugs, and rock & roll, this movie is for you.  Throw in some intense, realistic violence, and you’ve got Miami Vice, Michael Mann’s 2006 version of his hit ’80’s TV show.  Which brings me to my first point.  Before all of you original Miami Vice fans get all pissy about how this film doesn’t accurately depict the way the original show was, please realize that was never the intention.  Firstly, you can’t get upset about some other director barging in on this project and butchering it, because Michael Mann was the executive producer of the original TV show.  Aside from that, he’s arguably the most consistently kick-ass writer/director in the industry today.  Just look at his resume.  So grow up already, you make me sick.

Now, for those of us who were still toddlers when Miami Vice was in its prime, this movie needs to be looked at objectively.  Michael Mann is known for his unique camera work.  In many of the night-time scenes in this film, the quality of the footage was reduced to a low-grain level, to give a more realistic touch.  Think “World’s Wildest Police Videos”, while police officers are chasing some pedophilic minority through the poverty-stricken neighborhoods of Compton.  Or think of those homoerotic home videos you filmed out in the woods while mom was cooking dinner and you were aspiring to be the next Spielberg.  Didn’t work out, huh.  My point is, Mann uses this genuine style of filming to give the audience the POV of someone in the middle of the action.  The shaky camera, the enhanced darkness and difficulty of perception:  they all contribute to the effect of the first-person point of view.

One thing I did know about the TV show was that Sonny and Rico were p.i.m.p.s.  These guys crushed it almost every night, and the chicks were smoking hot.  And how could they not, really.  They drove around in a Ferrari Testarossa and wore pastel suits while arresting drug lords and spitting out cheesy ’80’s pick-up lines.  It’s a fool-proof formula.  Mann keeps that old theme alive in this remake.  Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx, with slightly different styles [newer better Ferrari, newer better clothes (sorry, no pastels), and newer better facial hair] manage to score some unfairly hot broads.  Whether they are whipping around corners in their 2006 Ferrari F430 Spider or whisking exotic Asians to Havana in go-fast boats, when you leave the theater, I promise you will want to be these guys.  Undercover cops in Miami with great fashion sense, highly-active sex lives, and grade-A pimp mobiles.  I bet you feel great about your shitty life right now.

In closing, a signature Michael Mann film would not be a signature Michael Mann film without an intense gun fight.  And Mann does not disappoint.  The climactic conclusion of this film is highlighted by a “I just shit myself that was so intense” machine gun standoff.  I won’t get too into detail, but the action sequences are about as real as it gets, from the angles to the sound to the blood spilling.  The film is stellar all around.  Pay attention to the other small nuances of Michael Mann films, such as the predominantly darker color scheme, and the heavy-riff soundtrack.  So put down your gay-ass Sudoku and go see this flick.  I’m seeing it again.