In one word, stunning.

Rating: 9/10 (19 September 2004)

Ever since i saw the trailer for this film i have been waiting eagerly for its release, and it was no disappointment because Collateral is a film that grabs you right from its well written opening to its climatic ending.
Tom Cruise plays Vincent, an greying, emotionless hit-man who arrives in LA to carry out five hits in one night. He meets up with cab driver max, a guy who dreams of ditching his mundane taxi job that he claims is just a stop gap (he's been doing it 12 years) to open up a limo service catering for the rich and famous. All goes well first off. Vincent tells Max that if he drives him around to his five stops he will pay good. Max is none the wiser until he takes Vincent unknowingly to his first hit. As he is parked in the alley waiting for him the dead guy falls out of the window and lands on Max's car, forcing Vincent to tell Max what he is and that if he doesn't do as he says he will kill him. This then takes us on one hell of a roller-coaster ride through the city of LA, as Max tries to figure out a way of getting out of a no win situation.
Michael Mann chose the very wise decision of shooting his film on digital Video and it benefits from it. Somehow we capture the essence of the night better this way, whereas film wouldn't have had the same effect. We almost want to be creatures of the night while watching this film because it is so attractive. Michale Mann clearly loves the architecture of LA because he shows the city in all its neon lit glory, carefully placing a camera on the side of the taxi which gives us a beautiful view of the cityscape. It makes a change to see the actual city's Downtown rather than its outskirts.
Cruise and Foxx's performances are second to none. Cruise's character is such an empty void but in a good way. At times his eyes seem to pierce your very soul and almost makes you shudder. In other hit men films the audiences either love him or hate him, yet in this film you don't know what to think. One one hand you say OK this man is a killer and feels nothing for his victims. He is completely emotionless. Yet at times you feel sorry for his character. You get the impression that he has no life and that he is a lonely man who has always known he will die a lonely man. He is driven by his work but not in a psychotic way. He is a man who gets things done no matter what the cost. Foxx's character is the same. He captures us with his knowledge and charisma. There is one scene where he chats up Jada Pinkett Smith who plays a lawyer. yet when she gives him her card he is obviously surprised and doesn't know what to do. He can talk the talk but he can't walk the walk, until he squares up to Vincent.
The action moves along at a nice pace and the gun fight scenes work extremely well. But for once this is an action film that doesn't rely on countless gun battles and over the top stunts to keep us entertained. Just the banter that goes on between Man and Vincent keeps us glued to the screen. But when the fight scenes occur you are not disappointed, especially the nightclub shootout in which Vincent has to take out a target surrounded by bouncers and armed guards, not to mention the FBI.
For those who love their film noirs and dark gritty movies this is a must. It is well directed, extremely well written and the cast also pull their weight throughout. There maybe one or two things in the film that you think, "nah" but it really does not spoil what is a great film. Go see it.