Miami Vice? No dice.

Do we really need a Miami Vice movie set in modern times?

I've been trying to understand why the remake of Miami Vice has struck me as being so *wrong* for some reason -- and then it hit me -- you can't separate Miami Vice from the 80's.

Just as it's been said about Japan being the third character in 'Lost in Translation' -- the 80's is the third character in Miami Vice. The music, the style -- it was the highest expression of the 80's garish aesthetic -- and that's why we loved it at the time.

The second reason why the remake doesn't work is that it was character driven, primarily by Don Johnson. Suddenly guys were wearing pink shirt and 5-o'clock shadows in an attempt to be as cool as he was.

Without the 80's and without Don Johnson, Miami Vice becomes a generic police buddy flick. (Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx aren't exactly a 'must-see' pairing in my book.)

If the Hollywood execs had a brain-cell between them, they would have abandoned the '1. dust off beloved old tv flick, 2. add current movie stars 3. repeat' formula and realised that they could have made a brilliant revival of Miami Vice if they had only set it in the 80's.

You'd think the success of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City would have given them a clue that 80's retro is popular.

If they'd done that and had cast some fresh new actors -- then maybe that would be a Miami Vice worth going to the theatres to see.

As it is now -- it's not even worth downloading.