Seeing Michael Mann’s ”revisioning” of the fondly remembered television show from the 1980′s for the first time on the small screen proved to be a mixed affair. I found the film to be a great blockbuster-type upon first seeing it theatrically, with the same stylistic approach that Mann utilised to great effect on Collateral being once again a huge success, yet upon seeing it for the second time now some of the more problematic issues were much more prominent. Gong Li’s performance is absolutely awful. The actress, unable to speak in the English language, apparently delived her lines phonetically, and it really does show. The appaling nature of this performance actually infects other members of the cast, with Colin Farrell actively worse in the scenes wherein he acts alongside Li. 

One terrible performance doesn’t ruin the entire film though, and by and large Miami Vice is an entertaining (if not a little bit confused) crime flick. The film does appear to take itself far too seriously at points, but to be honest I would much rather see this kind of approach over  the often tired route of pastiche, which has been applied to many of the original Miami Vice shows stable mates (Starsky & Hutch, The Dukes of Hazzard to name but two). In fact its quite refreshing to see a property dealt such respect, and an indication as to Mann’s intense approach to filmmaking. Aside from the aforementioned issues with Gong Li and Colin Farrell, the rest of the performances are fine, with a great cameo from John Hawkes, the star of Miranda July’s Me and You and Everyone We Know, as Alonzo Steven’s, an undercover agent who’s case has turned very wrong. Its a wonderful little role, much in the vain of Jason Statham’s brief turn in Collateral, or that of Channing Tatum’s Pretty Boy Floyd in Public Enemies. Each of these brief performances hint at an underlying narrative set prior to each of their respective productions, and its becoming something of a trait in Mann’s work that is worth getting excited about.

It is in the visual department where Miami Vice really shines. Shot on high definition video, similar to that seen recently in Mann’s Public Enemies, the film brings the night that much of the film inhabits in a manner that wouldn’t be possible with regular 35mm film. The final shoot out is a great example of what video can achieve when in the right hands, with the long, close quarter takes  reaqlly bringing a tired cinematic stereotype to life. Some things just don’t work with this type of filmmaking, with a particular moment involving an explosion really showing up the formats short comings. Presumably this is one of the reasons why Mann shies away from such things in this recent “DV trilogy”. 

Miami Vice, in spite of some terrible performances, proved to be an entertaining enough film, and while not as strong as its cinematic siblings Collateral and Public Enemies its still holds up three years after its initial release.