Mirrors 2 – Unrated (2010/Fox Blu-ray + DVD w/Into The Mirror (2003))
Picture:
B-/C+ Sound: B/B- Extras: B- Feature: C-
A few
years ago, Kiefer Sutherland appeared in Mirrors,
part of a trend of U.S.
remakes of Asian Horror films. It was not
that good and it only did so well, but Fox decided to come up with a sequel and
Mirrors 2 (2010) which has a generic
cover, but actually stars the underrated Nick Stahl (Sin City, In The Bedroom,
Terminator 3) as a young man
disturbed by a car accident who thinks he is seeing things in mirrors.
However,
the more we see his therapy session, the more we realize they may not be very
necessary. His predecessor (the talented
Evan Jones of Book Of Eli, Rescue Dawn and Jarhead among others) at work seems to have lost his mind, yet may
also know a darker truth. When other
people at the same company they work for start finding bizarre ways to die, the
race is on to find out why before it is too late.
The first
20 minutes or so here is surprisingly good, but after that, we slowly start to
become overcome with a bad combination of overdone make-up effects and badly
done digital work, which undermines what could have been a surprisingly good
sequel. Stahl carries things often when
the Matt Verne script fails and Director Victor Garcia (known for his TV and
straight-to-video genre sequels) handles some of this well, but it eventually
falls apart and misses the mark. At
least no one involved will have seven years bad luck and it was good while it
lasted.
The 1080p
1.78 X 1 AVC @ 18 MBPS digital High Definition image is on the flat side with
color that has been far too toned down (likely to make the digital effects less
obvious, but that backfires) and the anamorphically enhanced DVD is not any
better. Both have detail and depth
limits, though the source is clean. The
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) lossless 5.1 mix offered here is superior to the Dolby
Digital 5.1 mix on the DVD version, but neither offers much demo material, yet
this was well recorded and offers a decent soundfield throughout. The DTS is more consistent than many 5.1
mixes we have run into lately on Blu-ray.
Extras
include Bonusview on the Blu-ray only, plus Deleted Scenes and two making of
featurettes in both formats. Best of
all, the DVD adds a flipside that offers the original film that inspired the
two U.S. versions in standard 1.85 X 1 definition and it turns out that Into The Mirror (2003) is superior to
both of its counterparts and is very good in terms of suspense and clever
moments. It is a Korean thriller and
worth your time.
For more
on the first Mirrors from the U.S.,
try this link:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/8190/Mirrors+%E2%80%93+Unrated+(Fox
- Nicholas Sheffo
