Collateral

Collateral
by Jorge Solis

HUGE

The plot of Collateral is simple. A man follows a hitman and watches each of his killings. Who hasn’t seen this plot before in any other movie? What makes Collateral unique are the themes that the two main characters represent. 

Jamie Foxx is the average man thrown into an extraordinary situation. His life isn’t exciting because he chooses it to be. He doesn’t want to move out of the routine he put himself into. He has big dreams but he doesn’t pursue his ambitions. You learn all this in his conversation with Jada Pinkett Smith.

Tom Cruise, who is always at his best when he plays jerks like in Magnolia, plays a hitman who makes his own rules and breaks them. You know he’s going to do something horrible to Jamie Foxx’s character but he still helps him anyway in certain situations.

For me the best part of Collateral is the shootout at the club scene. The music, the editing, and the action is fast-paced. You want to root for the bad guy and hope he really causes a lot of damage.

I heard a lot of stories about the making of Collateral. Val Kilmer was supposed to be in the role of Tom Cruise and Steven Speilberg and Frank Darabont were considered to direct. I am glad that Michael Mann took the job as director. He added a new layer to the movie with hi-defintion. Hi-definition means making video look like film. You have seen hi-def being used for Once Upon A Time In Mexico and Star Wars Episode Two. Collateral is the best example of digital being used for a movie and proves why Michael Mann is the best at what he does.  

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