ellsworth81
08-24-2004, 12:40 AM
Collateral borrows from other movies, but still pays back handsomely
A good action thriller is hard to come by. They seem to no longer have a place in this day and age. I remember only 10 years ago where the action blockbuster ruled the roost, and the bigger the budget, the better the end-product. Nowadays, the formula for success has changed in an era where sappy romantic comedies and special effect orgies dominate the cinema scene.
Not to say that action-thrillers are never introduced. The Bourne franchise has attempted to revitalize a dead genre, but great car chase scenes aside, the creative forces behind the two movies still lack that intangible panache to put together what constitutes a great action film.
Michael Mann, a relatively unknown in the mainstream film world, succeeds where others have not in recent years. Though lacking the recognition and street cred of action moguls like Joel Silver and Jerry Bruckheimer, he is by no means new to movie making. With great movies like Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, and Ali to his credit, Mann has a great deal of versatility under his belt, and he breaks out all the tools in said belt with Batman-like resourcefulness.
Mann artfully brings together an unlikely duo of actors in Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Foxx. Cruise, who is hard up for a chance to redeem himself after a questionable role choice in Last Samurai, and Foxx, an “actor” who only has one genuine acting effort garnered in the aforementioned Ali, display some marvelous chemistry butting heads with one another. Whether it’s the seemingly idle banter in the taxi cab or the awkward comedic relief while visiting Foxx’s doting mother, in scene after scene, Cruise and Foxx put together a disciplined performance that frames their uneasy relationship.
Just in case you are wondering what I am rambling about, Jamie Foxx, as Max, is an everyday LA cab driver, saving up money for his slice of the American dream, but his life changes irrevocably when he agrees to chauffeur Vincent, played by Tom Cruise, for the night in exchange for a large sum of cash. Naturally, Foxx hesitates, but reluctantly agrees with a bit of prodding, only to find out one dead body too late that he had involved himself with the wrong criminal enterprise. Now knee-deep in Vincent’s late night escapade, Foxx is forced to assist Cruise in his mission for his very own survival.
Individual performances were not exactly stellar, but rather an overall pleasant surprise. Foxx stuns the audience with an uncharacteristic sensitivity and ability that he had shown once in Ali that may earn him the rights to call himself a thespian. Concurrently, Cruise kicks it down a notch and remains within the parameters of his character, delivering a solid interpretation of the sagacious, matter-of-fact hitman. Moreover, the new gritty look, kung-fu flair, and dead-eye aim turns Cruise into a force to be reckoned with as well as one badass mother.
While the movie premise is fairly pedestrian, Collateral has a number of well-crafted moments and will keep you on your toes with some of the minor twists thrown in. Most notable is the action in the night club that serves as a great demonstration of a tense, pulse-elevating scene. The thumping trance in the background is an excellent selection, preparing the viewer in anticipation of the inevitable chaos that would ensue with law enforcement, club security forces, and Cruise and Foxx all within striking distance of one another. Now just who would be left standing after the dust settled was anyone’s proverbial guess.
I haven’t much commentary on the cinematography of the movie, but I did not find myself befuddled by any epilepsy-inducing camera work and/or a swarm of millisecond-long, multi-angular peeks of a single 5 second action sequence commonly found in today’s poorly executed action movies. In other words, it was at least satisfactory.
Though I had few qualms with this movie (a monumental achievement in itself for a contemporary movie), the ending could have definitely used some work. Without trying to give away the ending, let’s just say that the final scene with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx did not turn out as I would’ve expected, especially with the hints dropped in earlier segments of the movie. Depending on the moviemaker’s intent, I could concede that the ending would have made sense, but since I’m such a pragmatist, it was straight-up bollix in my opinion.
Nevertheless, after what probably should have been a torrent of negativity, this movie emerges unscathed from my arguably in-depth scrutiny and is in fact recommended. Even if you don’t like it, you won’t regret the decision – not as much as Max did in letting Vincent into his taxi.
A good action thriller is hard to come by. They seem to no longer have a place in this day and age. I remember only 10 years ago where the action blockbuster ruled the roost, and the bigger the budget, the better the end-product. Nowadays, the formula for success has changed in an era where sappy romantic comedies and special effect orgies dominate the cinema scene.
Not to say that action-thrillers are never introduced. The Bourne franchise has attempted to revitalize a dead genre, but great car chase scenes aside, the creative forces behind the two movies still lack that intangible panache to put together what constitutes a great action film.
Michael Mann, a relatively unknown in the mainstream film world, succeeds where others have not in recent years. Though lacking the recognition and street cred of action moguls like Joel Silver and Jerry Bruckheimer, he is by no means new to movie making. With great movies like Last of the Mohicans, Heat, The Insider, and Ali to his credit, Mann has a great deal of versatility under his belt, and he breaks out all the tools in said belt with Batman-like resourcefulness.
Mann artfully brings together an unlikely duo of actors in Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Foxx. Cruise, who is hard up for a chance to redeem himself after a questionable role choice in Last Samurai, and Foxx, an “actor” who only has one genuine acting effort garnered in the aforementioned Ali, display some marvelous chemistry butting heads with one another. Whether it’s the seemingly idle banter in the taxi cab or the awkward comedic relief while visiting Foxx’s doting mother, in scene after scene, Cruise and Foxx put together a disciplined performance that frames their uneasy relationship.
Just in case you are wondering what I am rambling about, Jamie Foxx, as Max, is an everyday LA cab driver, saving up money for his slice of the American dream, but his life changes irrevocably when he agrees to chauffeur Vincent, played by Tom Cruise, for the night in exchange for a large sum of cash. Naturally, Foxx hesitates, but reluctantly agrees with a bit of prodding, only to find out one dead body too late that he had involved himself with the wrong criminal enterprise. Now knee-deep in Vincent’s late night escapade, Foxx is forced to assist Cruise in his mission for his very own survival.
Individual performances were not exactly stellar, but rather an overall pleasant surprise. Foxx stuns the audience with an uncharacteristic sensitivity and ability that he had shown once in Ali that may earn him the rights to call himself a thespian. Concurrently, Cruise kicks it down a notch and remains within the parameters of his character, delivering a solid interpretation of the sagacious, matter-of-fact hitman. Moreover, the new gritty look, kung-fu flair, and dead-eye aim turns Cruise into a force to be reckoned with as well as one badass mother.
While the movie premise is fairly pedestrian, Collateral has a number of well-crafted moments and will keep you on your toes with some of the minor twists thrown in. Most notable is the action in the night club that serves as a great demonstration of a tense, pulse-elevating scene. The thumping trance in the background is an excellent selection, preparing the viewer in anticipation of the inevitable chaos that would ensue with law enforcement, club security forces, and Cruise and Foxx all within striking distance of one another. Now just who would be left standing after the dust settled was anyone’s proverbial guess.
I haven’t much commentary on the cinematography of the movie, but I did not find myself befuddled by any epilepsy-inducing camera work and/or a swarm of millisecond-long, multi-angular peeks of a single 5 second action sequence commonly found in today’s poorly executed action movies. In other words, it was at least satisfactory.
Though I had few qualms with this movie (a monumental achievement in itself for a contemporary movie), the ending could have definitely used some work. Without trying to give away the ending, let’s just say that the final scene with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx did not turn out as I would’ve expected, especially with the hints dropped in earlier segments of the movie. Depending on the moviemaker’s intent, I could concede that the ending would have made sense, but since I’m such a pragmatist, it was straight-up bollix in my opinion.
Nevertheless, after what probably should have been a torrent of negativity, this movie emerges unscathed from my arguably in-depth scrutiny and is in fact recommended. Even if you don’t like it, you won’t regret the decision – not as much as Max did in letting Vincent into his taxi.