Out of all the films this summer, this is the one I've been most looking forward to. Directed by the brilliant Michael Mann, Produced by Robert De Niro and staring Johnny Depp and Cristian Bale, two of the finest actors in the world imo, it's just one of those films that has to be great. ^_^

 

It is released tomorrow. Trailer.

 

At least Christian Bale plays a better role in this after seeing him in Terminator - Salvation, I'm really looking forward to seeing this at some point, I've read some reviews about it, most of them are pretty mixed.

People on IMDb are using some pretty spurious criticisms tbh..... They criticise the fact that Mann's shot the film in HD digital video.... They say that HD is "inappropriate" for a period film set in the 30s, citing the classic gangster films of Cagney, Bogart, Edward G Robinson, etc.... What absolute cr@p.... You'd may as criticise Mann for using colour instead of B/W photography in that case..... Nobody criticised Brian De Palma for filming "The Untouchables" utilising all the new technology that he had available to him, so criticising Mann in those terms is absolutely stupid, imo......

 

Whether it's a good film or not remains to be seen, but much of the criticisms that I read are arguing over semantics.....

A GREAT film. Not sure I'd say it's a modern classic, but it was such a well made piece of cinema. Mann's direction was excellent. And to be honest Depp acted Bale off the screen. I am a big fan of Bale but he was just too wooden in this. Depp however gave one of the best performances of his career. The second half of the film in particular was brilliant. Really really enjoyed this and would give it 8.5/10.

And to be honest Depp acted Bale off the screen.

 

From what I've read in reviews though, Depp's character is more three dimensional than Bale's... So, perhaps Bale has less to work with because his character's underdeveloped in comparison to Depp's...? This would be surprising tbh, Mann's always been pretty good at character development, and has always given his good guys and bad guys equal treatment - Collateral, Heat, etc, both had two central characters who were extremely well drawn.... I dont think anyone will ever forget the De Niro/Pacino face-off in "Heat" (which really is a modern classic), or the brilliant way in which these two characters were developed.... I was rather hoping for something similar with Bale and Depp tbh.....

 

^ Saw it yesterday, a good film alright, really well shot and directed, but kind of what I'd read though - Bale's character is quite chronically under-written, and the Pacino/De Niro tension that existed in Mann's masterpiece "Heat", simply is not present to anything like the degree in Public Enemies.. I quite liked Madeleine Cotillard, I felt she had a quite gutsy, steely resolve to her, although, it has to be said, the script doesn't really develop hers and Dillinger's relationship much below surface details, so it's kind of hard for me to understand quite WHY Billie is so prepared to take such a horrendous beating for Dillinger, a bit more development in the script would have been nice..... Yeah, okay, Depp's good looks and all, but I somehow doubt the real Dillinger was as attractive or charismatic as Depp portrays him..... I would say that generally, the scripting is rather weak, and beyond Dillinger himself, the characterisation is pretty weak too.... Public Enemies could have been an absolute classic to rank alongside "Heat" or "Collateral", but the poor scripting almost cancels out the superb job done by Mann and Spinotti in the photography and set-piece departments.... The deep-focus, high-def camerawork almost looks 3D in places, and the shoot-outs are brilliantly staged with a real nail-biting tension to them.... Also, what seems to be a shame is the fact that too much vital dialogue seems to be mumbled and low in the sound mix... Why on earth is it that they can have the gunfire coming through with astounding clarity, but dialogue is frankly a bit hard to hear.....

 

So, all in all this is a good, but flawed film, and seems to suffer some of the same problems which dogged Mann's "Miami Vice"... Certainly a strong central performance from Depp, but Bale is left out in the cold with an under-developed character.... A real shame this tbh, because this really, really could have been the greatest Gangster film since The Godfather....

7/10