Collateral

Collateral is being pushed as the next Tom Cruise movie while it should be seen as the next Michael Mann movie. Mann is one of the most underrated people in Hollywood right now. He has movies like Ali, Heat, Last of the Mohicans and more importantly The Insider under his belt and now on the list we can add Collateral. The first question that comes up when you see the movie is if Tom Cruise is able to be a convincing bad guy? He definitely can. There was one scene where I had a problem with the rest flowed perfectly. Jamie Foxx plays his best role of his career as of yet. Collateral is not a real action movie it doesn't have cheesy/corny lines to make us laugh or does it have breathtaking special effects. The action is just nicely spaced throughout the movie. The most impressive thing about Collateral is the cinematography. What a great work on the cameras and lighting! I'm comparing the visuals of this movie (the style of filming) to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver which is a very big compliment to any director. It is filmed in a way that reminded very much the opening scene of Scorsese's gem. I have to agree with an article mentioning how lucky we are this summer with these summer blockbusters for once they aren't busting. Well maybe other than Van Helsing & Catwoman, 2004 has been very good for movie audiences around the world. All the way around this movie is just pure fun to watch. If you like the Bond series but want a bit more realistic/serious touch... you get Collateral. On another note I've been reading a couple of reviews who are mentioning Oscar nominations for the movie. I'm a bit surprised since it's not a type of thing that the Academy usually does but maybe for the cinematography I'd be surprised to see it have a nod in anything else. Keep the great movies coming...