Public Enemies - A Review

Dir: Michael Mann
Star: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard


Comparisons with 1995's Heat are inevitable with this film. One of Michael Mann's most acclaimed films, a crime saga with two big A-list actors playing big characters on opposite sides of the law who only actually meet in one scene. All of that still applies, including hopefully the acclaim, however Public Enemies is also a lot more.

Set in 1933, Public Enemies is set in the midst of the great crime sprees that precipitated the formation of the FBI. It's a true story adapted from a book by Bryan Burroughs and amongst all the cops, agents, gangsters and bank robbers, it follows John Dillinger (Depp) as the man who stood out the most. Dillinger was suave, cool and played on it all.

He was a media icon and a bank robber. He watched his headlines and played up to the press. Remember this was in the Depression, everybody was angry with the fat cat bankers and then, as now, the capitalist temple of the bank was seen as ripe for defilement.

Dillinger was a poster boy of crime, seen as an almost Robin Hood kind of figure and Depp is the perfect man to play him. I can't think of any other actor who combines the same sense of "live-for-the-moment" fun, with suave self-assured cool in quite the way Depp, and indeed Dillinger, does.

Melvin Purvis is the F.B.I agent who heads the task force to bring in Dillinger who, by this time, is Public Enemy #1. Played by Bale, the character doesn't have as much to do as Dillinger and although Bale handles it well, bringing across an air of confidence, sometime frustration and calm (also it’s nice to see him acting without the Bat-voice for change - it really was too much in Terminator), he never gets the emotional sweep that Depp is able to provide.

Depp is a brilliant actor, even without mascara and a funny hat, and films like this one prove it. If he's not up for some awards for this film then there better be some damned good movies still to come before the next award season.

The 1930's setting is well carried off and Mann's techniques, though jarring slightly with the aesthetic of the film and creating a sense of anachronism (the shaky-cam in shoot outs and cool electric guitar music over the bank robbery entrances spring to mind) they only add to the film, emphasising the sense of showman ship and cool. The shootouts in particular look reminiscent of footage taken on real shootouts in urban Iraq, very raw footage and sound, with a low slightly wavering camera, like a journalist who's cowering from the bullets.

It's a long film but I don't think it feels like it, nothing seems superfluous, the plot is very tight and though I wouldn't rely on it for a history test (the chronology of certain events - notably the deaths - is a little off) it creates a genuine seeming experience and pushes all the right buttons at all the right times. Well directed and well acted, superbly in Depp's case. In a summer of sequels, remakes and reboots this is an original film that far from being a Heat 2 is a brilliant piece of cinema and highly recommended.

9/10

Transformers: Revence of the Fallen - Review

Dir: Michael Bay
Star: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Peter Cullen, Hugo Weaving.

I just want to point out that I'm a fan of the first movie. Normally I hate Michael Bay and have never subscribed to "awesomeness = tits and blowing shit up" that seems to be his cinematic philosophy but the first film had just the right balance of crazy action sequences (this was a movie about giant transforming robots beating the crap out of each other remember so I EXPECT action), light hearted comedic relief and intrigue. This film had none of that.

No, that's not right, it had all of it (well except the intrigue) but just not in the right proportions. There's more action, more "comic" relief, more robots, more explosions, a grander scope with more locations. So why was it so dull?! The pacing was terrible. The action sequences were instantly forgettable (a possible exception being an Optimus Prime with two swords versus the entire Deceptacon force in a wood - that was quite good), the finale was a mixture of dragged out pointless moments and rushed important bits.

The coolest characters are sidelined for the annoyingly unfunny comic relief ones (the Twins, oh GOD the Twins - racial stereotype ghetto robots!). There's no sense that anyone is ever in danger (too many people come back from the dead in this film!). The Geography is questionable, the history is laughable (I can accept alien influence inspiring the Pyramids of whatever but what this film suggests in inside them - and that nobody noticed...?), the dodgy British accents, the many MANY pointless characters who could have been cut altogether without impacting the film AT ALL! (that includes the titular Fallen). Megan Fox looks terrible throughout and the rest of the cast fail to make be believe even a moment of it. Too many Baywatch-style slow mo moment (slow-mo is useful in the robot on robot fights as it lets you admire the admirable work ILM have done - I'll be fair the robots DO look amazing and you do almost forget that the best actors and characters in this film aren't even real and were never on set).

No this film is too long, incomprehensibly shot, woodenly acted and just plain stupid but its greatest sin is that it's BORING! The first film was anything but.

I normally advise people go see mediocre sequels just on the off chance they like it more than I do, or just to get closure or whatever, but this film does nothing, is nothing and offers nothing. It's a waste of time and money, ours and the people who made it.

SCORE: 2/10