the biggest mistake was not using Tim Truman or Jan Hammer to do the score,
some might say jan hammer's score is too 80s,
but if you listen to his 2006 score to the documentary "Cocaine Cowboys"
that score would have suited this new movie perfectly!
in fact, i think even Tim Truman's score from the last season of miami vice would have been good enough just to ensure the soundtrack was up to standard
you have to remember, a key part of the original shows success was the music they used and a majority of the time it was Jan hammer's instrumental music which captured the mood of the characters. In particular "crockett's theme" which sadly was nowhere to be heard in the new movie apart from a 3 note rendition heard in Klaus badelt's AR500 track.
in this movie, i dont think mann used music correctly and it just felt wayward at times, especially compared to Heat or collateral.
Watch collateral, and see Tom Cruise burst into the club and just kill everyone while "ready steady go" by Paul oakenfeld is playing! Its awesome! Now thats good choice of music! I didnt see any of that in Miami Vice!
Now listen to this Tim truman Miami vice season 5 score track here called "Helicopter".
www.myspace.com/timtruman
This was made in 1989 yet sounds still awesome! i could imagine this playing in the new movie and it would bring an extra boost to the movie.
The instrumental music in Heat was great, in Miami vice 2006 not so great.
maybe Mann can come back and do another one and just change things around.
Overall, not his best effort, i prefer Collateral by miles.