a movie that is worthy of your time

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2004)

Why do we always feel the need to pigeon hole movies in order to be comfortable? To start with, Collateral is a hit-man movie.
However, it focuses on dramatic elements that the typical action flick would ignore or leave out. The first two hits take place off screen. Clearly the focus is on the two main characters. Sure there are some wickedly funny moments in this movie, but they are well placed and work well within the flow of the picture. Collateral has been described by some as a mish mash of genres, but clearly the action category is going to have some things in common with the thriller designation. And can't both these genres have funny moments? The music was very well done, but it could have been toned down at the end. It was curious that there were no opening credits, but this does not affect the picture in any drastic way. About 90% of the movie was shot on digital video and the image appears grainy in some spots, but this contributes to the overall feel that we get by being in the city at night. Michael mann uses his trademark long lense style to great affect. The action scenes are clean with a certain brutality to them. The end of the movie dragged slightly and could have possibly been better, but not by much. Don't let people tell you this movie is a failure.