Blu-ray Movie Reviews

For 20 years an elusive serial killer has assumed his victims’ identities. But now there's a breakthrough: Scott is assigned to the case and it's her job to know what makes a killer tick. But somehow this killer knows even more about Scott.

This film came out shortly after David Fincher’s brilliant Seven and actually borrows heavily from the atmosphere and themes of Fincher’s classic. But thankfully this one stands up pretty well on its own despite the obvious parallels and visuals. Jolie is convincing as a FBI agent who is called to Canada to help a team of investigators track down a serial killer who has been assuming identities for years. The film is great at misdirection and has you guessing throughout. I also like that it doesn’t pull a lot of punches in its delivery and themes. This extended cut is a bit more violent and the sex scene is a bit steamier. I just wish the added footage was cut in a bit more seamlessly.

I was a bit disappointed with some of the aspects of this video presentation. The overall sharpness is very inconsistent with some shots looking downright out of focus. Detail wavers considerably and I even saw some instances that appeared like badly scaled interlace artifacts. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was sourced from a 1080i master and improperly converted to 1080p for encoding. Contrast levels are strong though and the image has a nice sense of depth. Dimensionality is strong at times, but like detail is does waver a bit. Overall not a bad looking title, but it could have been a lot better.

Warner continues to offer more consistency in their TrueHD support and I’m glad to see it. Like the visuals, this one is very reminiscent of Fincher’s Seven in score and sound design. It works well with the storyline though and provides for plenty of mood. Dynamics are good with some great range at times and the mix has a very nice sense of atmosphere from both the main and surround soundstage.

Extras include a four part look at the production design and themes of the film. You also get a gag reel and the trailer.

Overall this was a solid addition to the genre. Warner does a good job with the audio presentation but the video could use some refinement. If you’re a fan of thrillers, this might not be a bad one to rent.