Dick Tracy

Rating:
Summary: Colorful and entertaining but mindless
Review: I'm not the biggest fan of Dick Tracy and outside of this movie I couldn't tell you anything about him other than he's an honest cop who favors yellow and he's been around for a long time.

Comic-book movies are a dime a dozen these days so maybe now Dick Tracy doesn't stand out as much as it did in 1990, a shame because Warren Beatty's color scheme and attention to detail is quite impressive. And the film did win 2 Academy Awards for the art direction and the gruesome make-up.

The plot is nonsense, some Gangster called 'Big Boy Caprice'(is that Gangster or Pornstar?), played by an OTT Al Pacino, wants to take control of 'the city' and Dick Tracy does his best to take him down. Madonna pops up as a floozy and the wretched kid who played Peter Pan's son in Hook pops up as...um...'The Kid'. Amidst these unremarkable plot developments dozens of grostesque gangsters bicker and mumble and fill up the running time. It's not so much fun following the plot but keeping your eyes open for all the actors hidden underneath the make-up. Such as William Forsythe, Ed O'Ross, Paul Sorvino, RG Armstrong and Dustin Hoffman, who is hilarious as Mumbles.

Some of it is rather dull but there are moments of coolness that make it worthwhile. Danny Elfman however, cranks out YET ANOTHER generic, lifeless comic-book movie score that brings no life of it's own the images on screen. He's truly my least favorite film composer (tying with Randy Edelman). But it did win another Academy Award for 'Best Original Song' as well as being nominated for 4 others. Quite bizarre for a film that was released with loads of press and a big audience only to fall into absolute obscurity.

Shot in standard 1.85:1 widescreen the DVD has a great looking anamorphic picture (the Region 1 version doesn't) and loud, forceful DTS sound (Dick Tracy was the first ever film to have a digital soundtrack). There are no extra features at all, which is strange considering how much there is to say about a film like this.

Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: Probably the most amazing piece of cinematography in film history. The story was simple, occasionally flawed, but I don't suppose anyone was expecting a David Mamet "Untouchables" treatment here. While much of the tale is tongue-in-cheek, the violence is disturbingly -- and appropriately -- real, most notably the explosively loud gunfire, a la "Bonnie And Clyde."

Very entertaining.