Public Enemies
What?
When Michael Mann is good, he is among the very best around. Heat, Collateral and The Insider are prime examples of a filmmaker who can produce films of the very highest calibre. Although perhaps a little unfair, his interpretation of Miami Vice showed Mann had the potential to misfire. Singling out his one and only perceived failure amongst a cannon of critically acclaimed films may seem harsh but Miami Vice was not received well in any shape or form, and rightly so. His next film was always going to be under more scrutiny as a result, but with Depp on board as John Dillinger in the crime thriller, Public Enemies, surely Mann would be back to his best.
Public Enemies has all the ingredients needed for a taught, edge-of-your-seat, award winning crime thriller. The cast speaks for itself and the subject matter the sort of stuff Mann was put on this earth to translate to film. The film has split people right down the middle. There are those who love it, but there are others, like myself, who found it lacking. Depp is great as expected, his performance being possibly his most mature to date, and he portrays Dillinger with real style. Bale on the other hand doesn’t fit. Miss cast or more likely underused, his portrayal of FBI agent Melvin Purvis pales into comparison. Bale is hardly to blame, the two characters barely share the screen throughout and when they do, Depp is the star of the show. What could have been a Heat style battle of wits is nothing close, in reality Purvis is not seen enough and as a result the man is almost a complete mystery. The same can be said for much of the cast in fact, it’s only Dillinger who is given any real back story, the majority flit in and out of the film with little or no explanation. The film itself fails to really grip, momentum never builds as I hoped it would. There are moments when things looked liked they were about to kick into gear only for any momentum to be lost. There are a number of brilliantly shot set pieces to keep things interesting; the opening prison escape sequence and the shootout in the woods are prime examples, but the well acted scenes overflowing with tension are all but nonexistent. I wanted to love Public Enemies, I had already made up my mind that I would love Public Enemies but I am bitterly disappointed with Mann’s latest offering. Expectations are a dangerous thing but regardless of the fact that I wanted to enjoy the film, there is no getting away from the fact that Public Enemies is a world away from Mann’s best.
Optics:
A couple of annoying problems held this transfer back considerably. Firstly, during the opening sequence I noticed a number of instances of shimmering in the background when outside the prison. The movement was not only a distraction but something that I am simply not used to seeing on a Blu-ray release. A real shame because this sequence in particular looked otherwise stunning thanks to the tremendous level of detail and a real three dimensional quality. However, worse than the simmering was some kind of digital blocking that again I have never seen on Blu-ray disc. Vertical lines are clearly visible on a small number of occasions and again, are extremely off-putting. I have a feeling that the authoring of the screener I used to review the film was responsible for this particular problem. Let’s hope so anyway. Aside from the glitches, Public Enemies looked great in high definition; the VC1 transfer being full of fine detail and featuring some wonderfully rich colours and lifelike imagery. Oh what could have been.
Sonics:
The audio has provoked a fair amount of discussion online over the past few days. Much like Heat, Public Enemies seems to suffer from a similar (actually much worse) problem of "muffled/loud syndrome". Every so often dialogue drops to a point where it becomes very hard to actually understand what is being said on screen. A quick adjustment of the volume solves the problem, but when an ear shattering shootout follows, unless you are still holding the remote with your finger hovering over the volume button, you better ready yourself for some loudness! I can’t help feeling that Mann is responsible for the drops in sound; perhaps he has intentionally adjusted the levels. Of course I have no idea why he would do such a thing but the same inconstancies occurring in Heat and Public Enemies are surely not a coincidence. Indeed some are reporting the same “problem” when the film was shown at the cinema. Weird. Anyway, aside from this issue, or non-issue, the sound throughout is sparkling. The DTS-HD soundtrack comes into it’s own during the shootouts with some gut wrenching gunshots and well placed surround action. The sequence in the woods is explosive stuff with bullets ripping through tree bark, crashing through the windows of the cabin and fizzing through the air. And as for the shotguns – wow!
Extras:
A Michael Mann commentary is joined by five short featurettes and a trivia game. Pretty disappointing stuff.
Well?
The film has received a real mixed reaction and I firmly believe fans of Mann’s previous work will be as disappointed as I am. Such is the stature of Mann and Depp, one slightly negative review is not going to make a jot of difference to this release, people are going to buy this disc none the less. Just don’t expect a 1930’s Heat and a reference quality Blu-ray presentation.
Tom Day
When Michael Mann is good, he is among the very best around. Heat, Collateral and The Insider are prime examples of a filmmaker who can produce films of the very highest calibre. Although perhaps a little unfair, his interpretation of Miami Vice showed Mann had the potential to misfire. Singling out his one and only perceived failure amongst a cannon of critically acclaimed films may seem harsh but Miami Vice was not received well in any shape or form, and rightly so. His next film was always going to be under more scrutiny as a result, but with Depp on board as John Dillinger in the crime thriller, Public Enemies, surely Mann would be back to his best.
Public Enemies has all the ingredients needed for a taught, edge-of-your-seat, award winning crime thriller. The cast speaks for itself and the subject matter the sort of stuff Mann was put on this earth to translate to film. The film has split people right down the middle. There are those who love it, but there are others, like myself, who found it lacking. Depp is great as expected, his performance being possibly his most mature to date, and he portrays Dillinger with real style. Bale on the other hand doesn’t fit. Miss cast or more likely underused, his portrayal of FBI agent Melvin Purvis pales into comparison. Bale is hardly to blame, the two characters barely share the screen throughout and when they do, Depp is the star of the show. What could have been a Heat style battle of wits is nothing close, in reality Purvis is not seen enough and as a result the man is almost a complete mystery. The same can be said for much of the cast in fact, it’s only Dillinger who is given any real back story, the majority flit in and out of the film with little or no explanation. The film itself fails to really grip, momentum never builds as I hoped it would. There are moments when things looked liked they were about to kick into gear only for any momentum to be lost. There are a number of brilliantly shot set pieces to keep things interesting; the opening prison escape sequence and the shootout in the woods are prime examples, but the well acted scenes overflowing with tension are all but nonexistent. I wanted to love Public Enemies, I had already made up my mind that I would love Public Enemies but I am bitterly disappointed with Mann’s latest offering. Expectations are a dangerous thing but regardless of the fact that I wanted to enjoy the film, there is no getting away from the fact that Public Enemies is a world away from Mann’s best.
Optics:
A couple of annoying problems held this transfer back considerably. Firstly, during the opening sequence I noticed a number of instances of shimmering in the background when outside the prison. The movement was not only a distraction but something that I am simply not used to seeing on a Blu-ray release. A real shame because this sequence in particular looked otherwise stunning thanks to the tremendous level of detail and a real three dimensional quality. However, worse than the simmering was some kind of digital blocking that again I have never seen on Blu-ray disc. Vertical lines are clearly visible on a small number of occasions and again, are extremely off-putting. I have a feeling that the authoring of the screener I used to review the film was responsible for this particular problem. Let’s hope so anyway. Aside from the glitches, Public Enemies looked great in high definition; the VC1 transfer being full of fine detail and featuring some wonderfully rich colours and lifelike imagery. Oh what could have been.
Sonics:
The audio has provoked a fair amount of discussion online over the past few days. Much like Heat, Public Enemies seems to suffer from a similar (actually much worse) problem of "muffled/loud syndrome". Every so often dialogue drops to a point where it becomes very hard to actually understand what is being said on screen. A quick adjustment of the volume solves the problem, but when an ear shattering shootout follows, unless you are still holding the remote with your finger hovering over the volume button, you better ready yourself for some loudness! I can’t help feeling that Mann is responsible for the drops in sound; perhaps he has intentionally adjusted the levels. Of course I have no idea why he would do such a thing but the same inconstancies occurring in Heat and Public Enemies are surely not a coincidence. Indeed some are reporting the same “problem” when the film was shown at the cinema. Weird. Anyway, aside from this issue, or non-issue, the sound throughout is sparkling. The DTS-HD soundtrack comes into it’s own during the shootouts with some gut wrenching gunshots and well placed surround action. The sequence in the woods is explosive stuff with bullets ripping through tree bark, crashing through the windows of the cabin and fizzing through the air. And as for the shotguns – wow!
Extras:
A Michael Mann commentary is joined by five short featurettes and a trivia game. Pretty disappointing stuff.
Well?
The film has received a real mixed reaction and I firmly believe fans of Mann’s previous work will be as disappointed as I am. Such is the stature of Mann and Depp, one slightly negative review is not going to make a jot of difference to this release, people are going to buy this disc none the less. Just don’t expect a 1930’s Heat and a reference quality Blu-ray presentation.
Tom Day
Director:
Michael Mann
Starring:
Johnny Depp
Christian Bale
Stephen Dorff
Channing Tatum
Stephen Graham
Best line:
"We're having too good a time today - we're not thinking about tomorrow."
Tagline:
"America's Most Wanted."
Description:
Universal
UK
Region free
Rated 15
2Hrs 20 Mins
2.35:1
VC1
DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio
(English, Spanish, French)
Subtitles: Eng, Spa, Fra
Audio commentary by Michael Mann
'Larger Than Life Adversaries'
'Michael Mann - Making Public Enemies'
'Last Of The Legendary Outlaws'
'On Dillinger's Trail - The Real Locations'
'Criminal Technology '
Ratings: (Out of 10)
Film 7.0
Optics 7.0
Sonics 8.0
Extras 5.0
Overall 7.0
