Public Enemies - semi-review *spoiler free*
I'm going to keep spoilers as vague as possible, but since the film is based on fact, it's not like there is any real surprises...except a few liberties regarding timelines, but otherwise, the film is quite faithful to fact...
Hm...well, first things first, Johnny was amazing...but then, did you really expect any different :)
My main problem with the movie had nothing to do with the story or the acting...but more of Michael Mann's style... Now, I've never seen a Michael Mann film before today so I don't know if it's just his usual style, but he really needed to back off a little on the handicam work, especially when the scene is just still. I found the camera movements distracting. It felt a little like we were watching Cops instead of a film.
Another thing that kinda bugged me was the look. It was filmed completely in HD video (from my understanding)...which looks dramatically different from film. I never really noticed that there was that much of a difference until now...It took me a while to get used to it. I guess, from my perspective, if shooting a period piece, I would have chosen film instead, but Mann has a love affair with HD so....
I'm thinking that he wanted to make the movie look and feel more real...but, for me, I would have gone with film and used steadicams. But that's just me :)
As for the acting, of course I thought Johnny was very good. He went for more subtle (think Finding Neverland) than in-your-face...which I felt worked because he's playing a real guy. Some might feel that he should have gone larger than life, but I think it would have detracted. He doesn't need that. Johnny's charisma is more than enough. :)
Christian Bale...felt a little wooden to me...I don't know....I'm not a fan of his really, and I haven't seen much of his work, but I've never really been drawn to him...and the only reason I can think of is that I'm just not a fan of his style. But, it's not like his performance detracts from the movie. He is adequate as Melvin Purvis, but I wasn't drawn in all that much.
Overall, I do recommend the movie to others, if for no other reason to catch Johnny :) I only wish they released this closer to Oscar season...It doesn't feel like a summer movie; it's got Oscar Fodder written all over it....and we all know that the Academy voters tend to forget things that happen in the summer...