HEAT 2 – A Visceral Experience
HEAT 2 – A visceral experience. But this is not a movie review. This review is for the 2022 novel, entitled Heat 2, cowritten by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner.
Any action movie buff over the age of 30 has seen the 1995 film, Heat. And if they are a true action movie buff, they love the 1995 film, Heat.
It’s impossible to deny that Heat is a masterpiece.
It’s the classic heist film trope, but the one that proves the rule, the one that all others should be measured against. One heist film to rule them all.
Though this theme has been done more times than they have rebooted the Spiderman franchise, Heat, is the one that gets it right. I will never forget the epic downtown L.A. shootout scene; the roar of the rifle shots echoing off the buildings making you feel like a terrified spectator on the sidewalk, caught in the middle of a violent gunfight between cop and criminal.
At the helm, Michael Mann showcases his unique talent for storytelling and the incredible detail and planning that he puts into each and every character in his films provides a monster payoff. The director writes backstories for his characters that go way beyond what makes it into the final cut.
He wants his actors to know their role so intimately that they can seamlessly embody their characters on screen.
And though the story itself is wildly compelling, it is the characters that drive it. It is the characters that bring it to life.
*** Spoilers ahead: not to the novel, but to the 1995 film Heat. ***
But this is not a movie review. This review is for the 2022 novel, entitled Heat 2, cowritten by Michael Mann and Meg Gardiner.
Heat 2 serves as a combination prequel and sequel to the 1995 film.
The sequel phase of the book picks up right where the film ends and immediately plunges you back into the world of Heat.
Chris Shiherlis, played by Val Kilmer in the film, is wounded from the showdown outside the bank and trying to skip town before the cops zero in on him. He is holed up in an apartment above a bar waiting for Nate—the man behind the scenes who sets up the jobs, lines up the escapes, and washes the money—to return with new documents and a way out of the country.
It continues to follow Chris as he heals and rebuilds himself.
He begins working for a powerful crime family in Paraguay and before long finds himself right in the middle of a generations old vendetta between rival families.
The prequel part of the book is great fun.
It shows a younger Neil McCauley (Robert DeNiro from the film) and his highline crew, pulling jobs in the prime of their careers. This younger Neil also has yet to adopt his mantra, “Don’t have any obligations you are not able to walk away from in 30 seconds flat.”
This Neil has roots. This Neil has vulnerabilities.
Perhaps we may find out what happened to him to turn him so cold, so calculated, by the time we meet him in the 1995 film.
My favourite arc of the story, however, is the story of the younger detective, Vincent Hannah.
The novel shadows him as he tracks a wildly violent and dangerous criminal who gets his kicks by brutalizing women.
Hannah has made a personal vow to take him and his crew down, no matter what it takes.
Gardiner and Mann capture him perfectly with his short, quippy dialogue.
You can literally hear Pacino’s voice in your mind as you read the dialogue on the page. He is driven. He is deliberate, and nothing will stand in his way.
It is very rare to get a sequel to one of your favourite films in the format of a novel.
I have never experienced this before, most of the time it’s the other way around.
I highly recommend checking this out before they adapt it to film.
It is fast paced and extremely hard to put down.
The writing style is short, punchy sentences, akin to the style of Lee Child in the Reacher novels, but somehow better, cleaner, crisper.
Like comparing the genius of the short cut fight scenes Paul Greengrass employed in the early Bourne films to the terrible mess that copycat directors have used since in films like Taken 3. The result is a narrative that flows smoothly and quickly and causes pages to flip, one after another, after another.
Thanks for reading.
~Kyle Helmer
The Forgotten Fiction Grade: YEA (read it!)!
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“HEAT 2 – A visceral experience” Was Written By Kyle Helmer.
