"Dick Tracy" holds up surprisingly well. And just to get the negative out of the way . . . Ugh, Madonna is awful. Her half-assed line deliveries drag every one of her scenes. In all fairness, I'm not a Sondheim guy, so the songs aren't my cup of tea, either (same problem I had with "Sweeney Todd"), but it's astounding how dead weight she is.
But in spite of that burden, the movie stands as a love letter to the comic strip medium and the period; the artful shot compositions, the gorgeous matte paintings, and my god the chroma saturation. This thing's a visual feast. Warren Beatty created a pretty cool world to visit, populated with coppers, hoods, fedoras, Tommy guns and flying fists. It's simplistic, but that's it's charm. And a lot of love went into this.
It brings back memories of that Summer in 1990 with the marketing-as-pop-art campaign, and it's totally Disney's grab at "Batman" levels of success (even nabbing Danny Elfman, although his score is a high point).
But it's still some good comic book fun.
7/10
But in spite of that burden, the movie stands as a love letter to the comic strip medium and the period; the artful shot compositions, the gorgeous matte paintings, and my god the chroma saturation. This thing's a visual feast. Warren Beatty created a pretty cool world to visit, populated with coppers, hoods, fedoras, Tommy guns and flying fists. It's simplistic, but that's it's charm. And a lot of love went into this.
It brings back memories of that Summer in 1990 with the marketing-as-pop-art campaign, and it's totally Disney's grab at "Batman" levels of success (even nabbing Danny Elfman, although his score is a high point).
But it's still some good comic book fun.
7/10