1st December 2009

Well, Public Enemies (2009) has been a movie which I have wanted to see ever since I first heard about it. I remember when I went to go see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen at the cinemas, and the trailer for Public Enemies was before it. I'm sorry, Michael Bay, but that trailer was more exciting than your whole movie. Then it came out at the cinemas, but I couldn't go see it. So I had to wait for it to come out on DVD, and boy, was it worth the wait. Johnny Depp is not my favourite actor ever, although I did love him in Whats Eating Gilbert Grape. But that was 16 years ago, and these days he is a great actor. His portrayal of John Dillinger is like seeing the real thing. Everything that goes into this movie and comes out is almost perfect: the cast, Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard; the set design and costumes, completely looking like the perfect 1930's gangster film; and the direction by Michael Mann. Okay, Miami Vice failed, but Public Enemies can make us restore faith in Michael Mann again can't it? Through this rather epic film, we follow John Dillinger (Depp) and his gang, who live life robbing banks through the Great Depression of the 1930's. He is soon labeled as 'Public Enemy No. 1' by the FBI, and it is up to Melvin Purvis (Bale) to find Dillinger and bring him down. But Dillinger is too good for the law, and Purvis finds himself in a game of cat-and-mouse. Of course, Dillinger has his girl, Billie Frechette (Cotillard), who he'd do anything for. There are so many violent gun-wielding scenes, and it's amazing that you start to think that Dillinger was a good person doing the wrong thing. The performances are out of this world, and Mann takes a good approach to directing this film. There is a flaw though: sometimes scenes run away on you, and you don't know what they are about. It would probably be suited more to people who know their movies, particularly people who have watched a few film-noirs or gangster films before. Overall, I was impressed by the out-come of this film.
9/10