Son
Of A Gun (2014/Lionsgate Blu-ray)
Picture:
B+ Sound: B+ Extras: C Film: C
Ewan
McGregor hangs up his lightsaber for bloody fists in the Australian
action film Son of a Gun, which is written and directed by
Julius Avery. The concept of the film (allegedly a remake of the
2009 French release A Prophet) is pretty cut and dry for this
sort of film with a prison break sequence, two criminals befriending
one another (one being the older, wiser) and then eventually a woman
comes in between them, loyalties are tested, and the true evil must
be relinquished. All in all, this is a been there done that type of
film that isn't necessarily a bad film just not really that
memorable.
19-year-old
JR (Brenton Thwaites) is sent to an Australian correctional facility
for six months as punishment for a minor crime. During his first few
days at the prison, he finds his cellmate is being sexually abused by
another group of prisoners led by a man named Dave. JR also comes
across Brendan Lynch (Ewan McGregor), Australia's public enemy #1 and
notorious armed robber. Lynch is playing a game of correspondence
chess when a passing JR points out an unseen checkmate against Lynch,
demonstrates, and is dismissed. Later, JR finds his cellmate
sharpening a shiv with the intention of attacking Dave during his
next advance.
When
Dave makes his advance, JR prevents his cellmate from stabbing anyone
by initiating a fight. Lynch scolds JR for meddling in other
people's affairs, and soon after, JR's cellmate is once again
sexually assaulted. His cellmate commits suicide, directing Dave's
focus towards JR. When Dave and his gang try to rape JR, Lynch and
his men, Sterlo (Matt Nable) and Merv (Eddie Baroo), rescue JR and
kill Dave. In exchange for Lynch's protection during JR's sentence,
JR will perform tasks for Lynch outside of prison. This leads to an
extravagant prison break and a heist that will ultimately unite the
two criminals or lead them both astray.
Son
of a Gun is presented in crisp 1080p high definition with a
widescreen aspect ratio of 2.40:1 from its original ratio of 2.39:1
respectively. The audio doesn't disappoint with an English lossless
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track and subtitles in English, English SDH,
and Spanish. A UltraViolet Digital Copy of the film is also
included.
Extras
are slim and include a Making Of Featurette entitled Partners In
Crime: The Making of Son of a Gun and an Audio Commentary with
the Writer/Director Julius Avery.
I'm
a big Ewan McGregor fan so it was cool to see the movie for his
performance but other than that and a cool prison break scene, there
isn't really anything too incredible about this.
-
James Harland Lockhart V
www.vimeo.com/jamielockhart
