IR TV Review: TOKYO VICE - EPISODES 1, 2 & 3 [HBO Max]
The setting of "Tokyo Vice" and the man per se behind it with his name (the original Miami Vice's Michael Mann) brought up thoughts of cool cop stories in the underworld of Tokyo. While this is not exactly what "Tokyo" is, in many ways it is close enough. Ansel Elgort takes on a much different angle of character than "Baby Driver" or even his recent Tony in "West Side Story." This is akin perhaps in a way to what Andrew Garfield did in "Silence". He dropped himself in Tokyo for this, learned what he could of the language and tried not to hide his character behind artifice. This story is based on aspects of real events (as written in a book by real life author/journalist Jake Adelstein on which Elgort's character is based) but names have been changed, dramatic license taken as needed, etc. (though it might be hard to say at which points).
Like Mann's film adaptation of "Miami Vice", certain elements have to change. This is not the world we were even in 12 years ago. The first 3 episodes premiering of "Tokyo Vice" on HBO Max at the same time (of an eventual 10) are created to set up the world Jake is working within which involves working at one of the prestigious newspapers in Tokyo on the crime beat. The first 3 episodes does correlate why he is there and what he wants to do. It doesn't speak as much to the trauma per se that perhaps motivated him or what is to come. The show does an interesting element of sharing the storyline with two other characters who are on similar paths in different places (the other two are in a little more shady territory in the underworld but hence where the Vice comes in). The aspect of the cops show an interesting dichotomy too playing between one that seethes in the the underworld and the other one who wields a bit of real power while understanding the line. Ken Watanabe as always brings a groundedness while not being too gruff as Katagiri. This tends to give the proceeding a little bit of course of a "Black Rain" vibe.
The back alleys and clubs at night are what makes the show in many points sing because it feels authentic in that way. Elgort riding through back streets or at noodle places. He is a stranger in a strange land. A Gaijin. A young Deckard just learning the basic ropes. The show hasn't got too thematically dramatic quite yet but it is building there. Elgort's Jake is in a lair he doesn't understand but also sufficiently naive though he might understand its temptation but not its consequence. Rachel Keller as Samantha has her own path and there is odes to perhaps Michelle Pffiefer in "Scarface" from a different angle. Shô Kasamatsu as Saru is from another angle (the third of the structure) but again there are parallels in stories of all three which shows JT Rogers, a playwright and writer who is running the show seems to have a decent amount of perspective over.
"Tokyo Vice" is not overtly stylish. In fact the first episode, the only one of the three directed by Michael Mann, is big on his POV closeups which definitely paint to the claustrophobia. He even made sure to have his one needle drop and its relevance works. The time period is a throwback so it never quite resolutely says when it is (though the late 90s is a good guess). The second 2 episodes are directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka (despite what IMDB might have said). This makes sense because there is a sense of gritty essence while maintaining and not overwhelming. [We recently talked to him for his film "Catch The Fair One"). Episodes 2 and 3 build on the aspect that consequences abound even if they are not taken overtly or intently. They are just a case of causality. There is not quite a sense of dread yet but an innocence lost but also perhaps a connection found if one can live long enough. "Tokyo Vice" knows that its world is only a matter of time. B+
By Tim Wassberg
