Public Enemies
Public Enemies is a solid effort from Michael Mann, but doesn't match the heights of his previous epic crime thriller Heat. Following the exploits of John Dillinger and the FBI agent on his tail, Public Enemies has a lot to offer including a fantastic cast and some great action. It fails, however, in being truly engaging. The whole exercise feels very sterile and the characters are rather thin.
In many ways Public Enemies feels like Mann is trying to recapture the magic of Heat, even staging a bank robbery similar to the one in his previous work. While Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were given room to explore their characters in Heat, Johnny Depp and Christian Bale could have been allowed more opportunities to fill out their roles. Public Enemies feels too much like a documentary instead of a human drama. There is a lot of ground to cover in this movie and it feels stretched by its obligation to fit in as much as possible. The movie would have benefited from the addition of another 20 minutes to fill in some background and allow the main story time to take shape.
I also have some issues with Mann's choice to photograph Public Enemies digitally instead of on film. For the most part it adds an interesting aesthetic for a period piece such as this, however, at times it looks awful and really detracts from the movie. This is especially true during the night scenes where the photography can be especially rough. Other films have been shot digitally and look fantastic, such as Benjamin Button and Zodiac, but for some reason it doesn't work here. I would really like to understand Mann's reasoning for his photographic choices. He previously shot digitally on Collateral and Miami Vice, but they looked significantly better to my eyes.
In spite of any problems I had with it, Public Enemies is an entertaining movie with some great work by Johnny Depp and Christian Bale that is worth a look. 3.5/5
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