(…) I’m STILL reeling from the experience…
(…) I’ll just add a few more comments. The music (what there was of it) was great! It blended the old standards with some contemporary “old-timey” sounding blues guitar and it worked so well with the scenes they were paired with. And the way Michael Mann shot the film was brilliant. We’ve all heard/read stories of him being a perfectionist and it truly does show…the lighting, the the actual places where these events took place, the clothes…everything looks beautiful and you ARE brought back in time. And the shoot-outs? Yes, you feel like you are right there. The blasts and pops from the guns are frighteningly “realistic” (although I’ve never actually been in a shoot-out!), and loud. Our chairs shook during some of these scenes. This may turn some people off, but for me, it wasn’t too loud…I loved it!
One of the problems I did have was distinguishing some of the charaters from the others…all the men wore suits and hats and had the same haircuts, so there were a few times when I thought “OK, who is that?” But it also keeps you guessing, because Dillinger was so crafty, some of his gang were dressed to appear as cops or agents. The body count does register quite high on both sides, however!
***SPOILER ALERT***
The scene of Dillinger’s death was graphic, sad, and very well done. All of the previous shoot-outs were loud and fast-paced, but when Dillinger’s end was near, everything went in S L O W M O T I O N and I was on the edge of my seat. I don’t want to give too much away, but when he goes down, it’s very effective. It’s sounds strange, but Dillinger’s death was one of my favorite scenes because it had a huge impact on me, body and soul. You’ll see what I mean
***NO MORE SPOILERS***
I enjoyed this film SO much! The casting was perfect and everyone did a fantastic job IMO. Johnny & Marion have chemistry + and yeah…that love scene…
I know people are asking for more character development, but as I told the girls, this movie is more action than acting. Maybe that will not pay off for some viewers, but with this movie, when you buy the ticket, you will take quite the ride!
I wanted to add that I am quite sqeamish when it comes to violence, but I think they got this one right…it was very violent, but not over-the-top. I did better than I thought and didn’t have to resort to “chick vision” LOL
Also forgot to say…Johnny looked SOOOOOO hot! Sorry, my inner fangurl just showed up!
