Highly Overrated

Rating: 5/10 (31 May 2018)

I enjoy watching classic movies. In a movie market saturated with superhero films fueled to success with CGI effects, the classics often are refreshing with unique plots and fascinating characters.
Scarface though, is a highly overrated movie and should not be considered a "classic." Scarface lacks character depth, an interesting storyline, and good acting.
Gangster life is hard to relate to. Money laundering, prostitution rings, drug dealing, and hit jobs are far from the daily experiences of working a 9-5 and maintaining a social life. However, viewers can relate to characters like Michael Corleone in the Godfather through the dilemmas he faces balancing personal ambition with family politics. We are captivated by the Goodfellas Tommy DeVito who quickly transitions from being playful to murderous.
Characters in Scarface are not interesting or relatable because they lack depth. Tony Montana is a predictable overly masculine character. He is willing to run through anyone, anything, or any rules to get what he desire, but predictably like most brutish characters, his nature destroys everything he obtains. Most of the other characters are defined in relation to Tony Montana and lacks interesting traits of motivation.
The plot of Scarface is way too simplistic. Montana arrives in Miami and quickly rises to power and then quickly loses it all. This could work with interesting characters in a surrealist genre, but in a movie that frames itself as somewhat historical at the beginning the unrealistic plot (coupled with the laughable accent acting) doesn't work.
The acting is also subpar. Don't get me wrong, Al Pacino is one of the great actors, but the role of Tony Montana is not great him. Most '80s Cuban refugees in Miami spoke Spanish especially with other spanish speakers; Cuban accent most characters have to make the movie more realistic and replace Spanish is badly acted and makes the characters too cartoonish.
I think this movie receives more credit than it deserves from viewers who drool over gore and are glued to its icon names (Scarface, Tony Montana, Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer, Oliver Stone, and Giorgio Moroder). Sure, some of the violent scenes are thrilling and interesting especially the finale with the memorable "Say hello to my little friend!" quote, but this just not justify high praise.