Movie Report : Collateral

Caught Collateral yesterday at UGC West India Quay (Canary Wharf).

It was an interesting movie but the camera works was very inconsistent. It was like the director (Michael Mann) could not make up his mind whether to produce a DV style movie or a professional Hollywood techni-coloured film. In fact this film was reportedly filmed using a High Definition Sony camera.

The story circles around a taxi driver called Max (Jamie Foxx), a guy who cleans his cab every day and generally the world's friendliest taxi driver in the World. He is the good guy - the guy who has an ambition (to own a limousine company) and treats his customer well and not fleece them of their money by taking them through a longer route (or pretending to be lost - like most Malaysian and illegal London minicab drivers).



Anyway, he picked up this guy who calls himself Vincent (Tom Cruise). Vincent is a 40 year old with fake grey hair that looks like someone poured powder on his head (really!). He wants Max to take him to visit several 'clients'.

Vincent is actually a contract hitman who was hired to dispatch five people that night (six including Max). Max soon finds out about his plans and tries to change things. And pretty much by the middle of the movie, we have crazy inefficient Los Angeles police and the mobsters on their tail.

There are some comedic scenes but overall it is a violent movie. Not bloody violent, just plain old Hollywood violent. The ending was an anti-climate and the scene where Max tries to break into a building bears resemblance to a 'Fight Club' scene.

There are stupid scenes too. For example when Vincent was hunting Jada Pinkett Smith's character he in pure desperation knocked out the lights from the floor. But the Vincent we knew from the first four killings were icy cool. This was a guy who would hunt a person quietly only revealing himself at the end.

Overall it was a fun movie if not annoying due to the lack of visual directions. The guy who played the copper was as annoying as hell and totally unbelievable with his weird voice, pierced ears and 80s slicked hair. The make up on Tom Cruise was also inconsistent. Sometimes he looks young and on others his eyes looks like an eighty year old pensioner. And his hair! His grayish white hair is totally unconvincing.

But still is was enjoyable experience. Shame we only saw Jason Stam once.

I give this a 7.5/10