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Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)
From the past Mann films that I’ve seen so far, which is really only three, I’m really not his biggest fan. Collateral was good, but nothing really special and I just plain didn’t like Miami Vice. I can say that this has to be my favorite from him so far, but then again, I haven’t seen Heat yet which most consider to be his best. I will start off by saying that I personally loved it, but I’m not sure if it’s one of those films that I can go back to re-watch it over-and-over again. Something I have noticed from his past three movies I’ve seen so far that he seems to have a distinctive way of filming his movies. He really seems to get in his shots with the camera constantly moving around. I think that it seemed to work from this, even though I didn’t think it really worked with his other movies I’ve seen. My taste on movies has changed quite a bit since I last watched both of them, so maybe I need to go and re-watch them sometime soon. I personally really loved the style in this, though. That just happened to be my favorite thing about this, even though it isn’t one of those style-over-substance types of movies. It certainly had a lot of substance in it, at least enough to keep me hooked for 2 and a half hours. My favorite scene in the movie had to be the entire hotel getting attacked scene. It really showed the turning point in Dillinger’s life.
I know it may sound clichéd saying, but Johny Depp is John Dillinger. I know it may sound a little weird, mainly because I don’t even know what the real Dillinger like, but he totally engrossed his role in this. I still think Depp is a tad overrated and gets a little too much praise, but his role in this has me thinking otherwise just a little bit. I mean in that scene where the cops are taking Billie, I think the only way to describe his acting in that one scene in particular is incredible. His acting in the entire movie is pretty great, but that one scene seems to stand out from the rest. Depp and Marion Cotillard had some amazing chemistry together, even if I didn’t think it was shown as well when the two of them were together. It was shown a lot better when the two of them were apart and Dillinger was trying to be with her. I don’t think Christian Bale did a good job at all, hell I’d even say that his acting seemed plain stale at points during the movie. Maybe because it was the fact that he showed no emotion at all throughout the movie, but I just don’t think it was good acting. I actually seem to tend to like Bale’s acting, too, and this would seem like a movie he could shine in better than all those action movies that he’s been doing recently. I don’t think it was good role for him to take on at all, though.
I know it wasn’t meant to be an effect driven film and all, but one shot that I just plain couldn’t stand was the last gun shot of the movie. It was so bad, probably worse than all the effects in Wolverine, and those were awful. I guess it shouldn’t bother me so much, but it does, and it even took away from the ending for me. I wasn’t too big of a fan of the ending anyways, because it just became depressing in a way. It showed Dillinger’s life just going farther down the toilet and by the end of the movie you’re ultimately ended up left feeling bad for Dillinger. The way he was shown in this, though, he didn’t seem like too bad of a buy, except for the fact that he robbed banks and all. This has me wanting to see some of the previous films about Dillinger, and I think I’ll try and catch them sometime soon. This is probably the best movie of 2009, but I don’t think it’s quite my favorite. My score for this has been jumping around for these past days, because even though I loved it and it was made incredible, I just don’t think I could go back and re-watch it over-and-over again. I want to try and catch it again before it leaves theaters though, so I can really test how well it holds up with re-watches.
Public Enemies (Michael Mann, 2009)
From the past Mann films that I’ve seen so far, which is really only three, I’m really not his biggest fan. Collateral was good, but nothing really special and I just plain didn’t like Miami Vice. I can say that this has to be my favorite from him so far, but then again, I haven’t seen Heat yet which most consider to be his best. I will start off by saying that I personally loved it, but I’m not sure if it’s one of those films that I can go back to re-watch it over-and-over again. Something I have noticed from his past three movies I’ve seen so far that he seems to have a distinctive way of filming his movies. He really seems to get in his shots with the camera constantly moving around. I think that it seemed to work from this, even though I didn’t think it really worked with his other movies I’ve seen. My taste on movies has changed quite a bit since I last watched both of them, so maybe I need to go and re-watch them sometime soon. I personally really loved the style in this, though. That just happened to be my favorite thing about this, even though it isn’t one of those style-over-substance types of movies. It certainly had a lot of substance in it, at least enough to keep me hooked for 2 and a half hours. My favorite scene in the movie had to be the entire hotel getting attacked scene. It really showed the turning point in Dillinger’s life.
I know it may sound clichéd saying, but Johny Depp is John Dillinger. I know it may sound a little weird, mainly because I don’t even know what the real Dillinger like, but he totally engrossed his role in this. I still think Depp is a tad overrated and gets a little too much praise, but his role in this has me thinking otherwise just a little bit. I mean in that scene where the cops are taking Billie, I think the only way to describe his acting in that one scene in particular is incredible. His acting in the entire movie is pretty great, but that one scene seems to stand out from the rest. Depp and Marion Cotillard had some amazing chemistry together, even if I didn’t think it was shown as well when the two of them were together. It was shown a lot better when the two of them were apart and Dillinger was trying to be with her. I don’t think Christian Bale did a good job at all, hell I’d even say that his acting seemed plain stale at points during the movie. Maybe because it was the fact that he showed no emotion at all throughout the movie, but I just don’t think it was good acting. I actually seem to tend to like Bale’s acting, too, and this would seem like a movie he could shine in better than all those action movies that he’s been doing recently. I don’t think it was good role for him to take on at all, though.
I know it wasn’t meant to be an effect driven film and all, but one shot that I just plain couldn’t stand was the last gun shot of the movie. It was so bad, probably worse than all the effects in Wolverine, and those were awful. I guess it shouldn’t bother me so much, but it does, and it even took away from the ending for me. I wasn’t too big of a fan of the ending anyways, because it just became depressing in a way. It showed Dillinger’s life just going farther down the toilet and by the end of the movie you’re ultimately ended up left feeling bad for Dillinger. The way he was shown in this, though, he didn’t seem like too bad of a buy, except for the fact that he robbed banks and all. This has me wanting to see some of the previous films about Dillinger, and I think I’ll try and catch them sometime soon. This is probably the best movie of 2009, but I don’t think it’s quite my favorite. My score for this has been jumping around for these past days, because even though I loved it and it was made incredible, I just don’t think I could go back and re-watch it over-and-over again. I want to try and catch it again before it leaves theaters though, so I can really test how well it holds up with re-watches.