I had been missing the Cops & Robbers Genre

Rating: 8/10 (21 July 2009)

Let's start with the highlights Pros – Johnny Depp – Absolutely Awesome Sound (especially the gunfights) – Good plot – Gets credit for being something somewhat original out of Hollywood
Cons – Some slow parts
First off, I'd like to give Michael Mann credit for sticking to his guns and making movies the way he wants and not like some of the processed junk that has been forced fed to the public in recent history. Also, I don't have a problem with the digital film recording that Mann used it didn't distract me from the contents of the movie. As for Bale's performance, I didn't think anything of it because it wasn't a big role given most of the movie focused on Dillinger. On a side note, I really like the secondary portrayal of Baby Face Nelson. If you get bored easily when there isn't something blowing up every 3 minutes you will not like this movie because there are long stretches of dialog and plot development. When there were action scenes I found them realistic and gritty; I especially loved the gunfire sound effects. The main thing I found was a bit weak was the love story part of the plot, but it didn't take too much away from the overall Cops-Robbers theme. Granted this isn't Mann's best film but as for 2009 it a breath of fresh air given the saturation of comic books, cut and paste comedies/chick flicks, and never ending sequels. In conclusion, I put this movie second to UP in the list of movies I've enjoyed the most this year.
-AX