Gloriously shot chase movie on the challenge to stop a 1920's legendary gangster

Rating: 7/10 (9 August 2009)

After ten years and a strong cult following, Michael Mann has decided to try to recreate the basis that underpinned "Heat". That film saw a cop and a bank robber play off each other whilst being two sides of the same coin.
There are parallels with that film and "Public Enemies" (the gangster's girl, the brotherhood between some of the gangsters and the gunfights etc) but also some major differences. Firstly the gist of the film revolves mostly round gangster John Dillinger (Johnny Depp) whilst law enforcer Melvin Purvess (Christian Bale) is really second billing (Heat was split equally). Next this is based on a true story so creates limitations. Anyhow, best to just take this film on its own.
So how does it all go? Personally, I enjoyed it. The settings are very evocative of the period (1920s) without falling into cliché whilst the actors all fit in very well into their roles. Johnny Depp holds out very well in his part as John Dillenger and gives him a full character. There are many great quotable lines in the film and the film moves at a fair pace.
However, it wasn't as gripping as I'd have hoped. The story was well written but didn't grab me partly as it's a very long movie. Maybe my expectations were too high. Despite that, these are really sparse criticism, and overall it's a very good film and enjoyable, just be warned that it is a long film.