Collateral blew me away.

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2005)

An excellent film that shows to me how talented Michael Mann is at what he does, and that what he does is very focused on certain themes. I was astounded, but really happy that it is in my mind, as good as Heat - a great couple of stories, with great actors holding their own in both.
It's a story that begins with a man on a mission to assassinate set against a man whose life is passing him by, because he never really stood up for himself.
A story that ends with a man who dies just as he's realising where his mission has led him, but who doesn't know how to stand down, killed by the hand of the man who showed him where that mission destroyed his personal choice. But the assassin who dies only died at the hand of that man, because he taught him how the assassin's mind works.
And it made me cry... tears at the scene when he dies. And it's made me cry before again, tears at the scene when he dies...
when I saw my first Michael Mann film, Heat.
A story that begins with man on a mission to pull heists set against a man whose life is passing him by, because he's committed to hunting murderers.
A story that ends with a man who dies just as he's realising he has to escape the mission he's spent his life committed to, but who refuses to stand down, killed by the hand of the man who showed him what life could be if he ended his mission. But the heister who died only died at the hand of that man, because he taught him how the heister's mind works.
In them both, there are so many similarities, not just the central theme. The denouement of both unveils the driving forces of the two central characters, and how those forces are unbalanced by their interaction with each other. And he unravels this showing strengths and weaknesses in both men, blurring the edges of the standard good guy / bad guy relationship, by illustrating more of an insight.