The Pacifier (Widescreen)
Picture: B-
Sound: B- Extras: C Film: C
Like many tough guy/action actors before him, Vin Diesel
saw the need to send up his persona in Adam Shankman’s The Pacifier
(2005), despite the fact that he has far from peaked as a star in the Action
genre. This is the man who turned down
sequels to his hits XXX and Too Fast, Too Furious, as well as
dropping out of Terminator 3.
Though he had a few low budget films, a few of which sat on the shelf a
while (Knockaround Guys, A Man Apart) not do well, was his second
Riddick film so bad that he felt he wanted to sign on to this?
He is here as a Navy S.E.A.L. who is on a mission that
goes wrong. As a change of assignment,
he has to protect a group of five children as a result and since his fatherhood
skills are mostly nonexistent, he will use his “military procedure” to keep the
children orderly. In many ways, this
film screams Kindergarten Cop, a larger hit for Arnold Schwarzenegger
that many complained was far too violent.
This is not as graphic or funny, nor did it do as well at the box-office
and for good reason. Despite having the
director of the hilarious-if-narrative-poor Bringing Down The House on
board, the film goes nowhere and trying to be a straight-out action film in
spots just throws off any chance for the comedy to develop. 96 minutes seems like too long, but someone
might find this funny, just not this critic.
The anamorphically enhanced 2.35 X 1 image is not bad for
a recent film and transfer, with consistent color and some good depth by way of
cinematographer Peter James, A.C.S., A.S.C. that does not take full advantage
of the scope frame by a longshot. The
Dolby Digital 5.1 mix has decent fidelity for a comedy, with the action scenes
predictably better by default. Extras
include bloopers, deleted scenes that make no difference, On The Set
pieces with Diesel and Brad Garrett, Special Ops TV ads and commentary by the
director. That is far more than
expected, and they are cumulatively as entertaining as the film, if not more so
at times.
- Nicholas Sheffo
