Explosive
Summary
Heat 2 is a worthy sequel to the classic film really delving into the characters where we get to see how they think. It’s immediately engrossing with plenty of action which would make for an exciting movie if it does become a reality.
Plot: One day after the end of Heat, Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) is holed up in Koreatown, wounded, half delirious, and desperately trying to escape LA. Hunting him is LAPD detective Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino). Hours earlier, Hanna killed Shiherlis’s brother in arms Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) in a gunfight under the strobe lights at the foot of an LAX runway. Now Hanna’s determined to capture or kill Shiherlis, the last survivor of McCauley’s crew, before he ghosts out of the city.
In 1988, seven years earlier, McCauley, Shiherlis, and their highline crew are taking scores on the West Coast, the US-Mexican border, and now in Chicago. Driven, daring, they’re pulling in money and living vivid lives. And Chicago homicide detective Vincent Hanna—a man unreconciled with his history—is following his calling, the pursuit of armed and dangerous men into the dark and wild places, hunting an ultraviolent gang of home invaders.
Meanwhile, the fallout from McCauley’s scores and Hanna’s pursuit cause unexpected repercussions in a parallel narrative, driving through the years following Heat.
Heat 2 projects its dimensional and richly drawn men and women into whole new worlds—from the inner sanctums of rival crime syndicates in a South American free-trade zone to transnational criminal enterprises in Southeast Asia. The novel brings you intimately into these lives. In Michael Mann’s Heat universe, they will confront new adversaries in lethal circumstances beyond all boundaries.
Review: I am the world’s slowest reader but this week I finally finishing the novel of Heat 2, the sequel to the Michael Mann movie starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Heat is one of my favourite films, so I wasn’t sure how I felt about a belated follow up as it wasn’t really necessary. I was still pleasantly surprised by this tale written by Mann and Meg Gardiner as it immediately connects to the movie, so you are already familiar with the main characters. It really helps as you can put faces to the names and it brings you right into the story, starting off essentially from where the movie ended.
Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer) is the primary focus as we find out what happened to him after his escape at the end of Heat and he ends up in South America where he makes a new life for himself. Vincent Hanna (Al Pacino) also returns as he tries to capture the absolute scumbag villain Otis Wardell. He’s a home invader, rapist and killer with no redeeming features and if they ever made this into a movie I’m not sure who they would cast, but I picture a young William Forsythe type.
The rape scenes are tough to even read, so I think they should keep that to a minimum in a movie as it would kill the box office. Aside from that this is a great yarn really delving into the minds of these characters we are so familiar with and I love finding out how Chris thinks as he was more of a side character in the movie.
The story goes back and forth in time and some of it is a prequel so we get Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro) returning and doing several jobs before the events of the movie. Once again it expands on the characters and their relationships with Neil in love with a woman called Elisa who understands who he is and what he does for a living. She has a daughter called Gabriella who becomes pivotal to the story later on while making us understand why Neil becomes so cold towards people.
Considering the size of the book it’s a well-paced story and even though I’m a very slow reader I didn’t want to put it down as it’s a real page turner. In terms of action it has a climactic shoot-out on a highway after Otis crashes his firebird while trying to kidnap and kill Gabriella. There are several other shoot-outs and this could make for a very different movie, but still feel like it takes place in the world of Heat.
Overall, Heat 2 is a wonderful companion peace to the classic action movie exploring the characters and how they think while also giving us plenty of action, tension and a continuation of the story including some side characters who get more development. The only thing I disliked were the rape elements which leaves a bad taste in the mouth, but aside from that this is compelling stuff.