Operation: Endgame (2010/Anchor Bay Blu-ray)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: B-     Extras: C     Film: C

 

 

Doing a spy spoof is not easy.  The revival of Get Smart was not so smart, while The Coen Brothers’ Burn After Reading was clever, yet did not work as well as I would have liked it to despite some parts that worked.  Fouad Mikati’s Operation: Endgame (2010) wants to be somewhere in the middle and while there are some amusing moments that work, too much of this is all over the place and whatever was ultimately being attempted implodes under its own ambitions.

 

The story essentially involves an unknown secret spy center deep underground in Los Angeles and when the longtime head of operations dies, several groups form to take over the facility and its sensitive operations.  Ellen Barkin, Maggie Q, Ving Rhames, Jeffrey Tambor, Bob Odenkirk, Zach Galifianakis, Emile de Ravin, Rob Corddry, Brandon T. Jackson and Beth Grant make up the offbeat cast and as I watched, I realized that this could have worked if the Sam Levinson/Brain Watanabe screenplay actually had a full grasp of the genre.

 

There are interesting moments of chemistry among the cast and this was getting somewhere, but it gets too caught up in technology, lesser jokes and other items that ruin its continuity and narrative arc.  It is a curio to be sure, but only the most interested should try it out.

 

The 1080p 2.35 X 1 digital High Definition image looks like it is shot in High Definition video with its weak color, watery look, motion blur and softness that is a distraction throughout.  The DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 lossless mix is the default highlight of the disc, though it also is not great and the soundfield is limited, even with the Ian Honeyman score prominent in the surrounds, the recoding of the rest of the audio is not what it could and should have been.  Extras include Alternate Opening, Alternate Ending and a Behind The Scenes look at the film.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo