Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
A case involving drug lords and murder in South Florida takes a personal turn for undercover detectives Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs. Unorthodox Crockett gets involved romantically with the Chinese-Cuban wife of a trafficker of arms and drugs, while Tubbs deals with an assault on those he loves.
Michael Mann's Miami Vice remake is a visually striking, brooding reinvention of the source material, shot on digital video with a raw, immersive aesthetic that genuinely distinguishes it from contemporaries. Mann's handheld, high-contrast digital cinematography is exceptional and wholly distinctive — arguably the film's defining achievement. The plot, however, is murky and emotionally underdeveloped; the romantic subplot between Crockett and Isabella never fully earns its weight, and the narrative momentum stalls mid-film. Farrell and Foxx are committed but the script gives them little interiority to work with — serviceable but not outstanding performances. The ending is abrupt and unsatisfying, deflating tension rather than resolving it meaningfully. As a reimagining, the film carves a distinct, serious-minded identity separate from the TV series, though it ultimately underdelivers on its own ambitions.