This isn’t what I would call a ‘bad’ film, but it isn’t that good either.
"The Brave One" isn´t a bad film for all of its shortcomings. The acting of Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard was solid and they helped carry the thinly written story. Foster was especially good and Howard represented a truly noble person who should have saved Foster´s character by tossing her skinny ass in jail. Then, he could have fed her a sandwich. Instead, he gives in to his feelings for her and aids her in her blood-quenched thirst. Aside from that flaw, I enjoyed the character of Mercer. The first two shootings by Erica Bane were well done sequences, regardless of how coincidental they were. It took the character three bullets to hit her victim the first time she fired a gun, but you could see the evolution of her vigilantism during the second murder. This film could have been a very good film had it been written better and the story stayed true to its characters, but it manages to do a few things well enough that you don´t feel as if you´ve totally wasted your time when the credits begin to crawl.
Video:
"The Brave One" is presented in a detailed and strong looking VC-1 encoded transfer. Shown in its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and possessing the full 1080p resolution, the film isn´t quite reference material, but it is an above average looking film that makes the dangerous streets of New York City look beautiful. The level of detail is extremely strong and added to the old and busted appearance of Jodie Foster. You could count the wrinkles around her eyes. The streets and locations filmed look quite strong in detail. Coloring was also strong and the film´s hues were bright and properly contrasted. The film´s style reminds me in some ways of Neil Jordan´s "The Crying Game" in its palette and the director purposely pushes for cooler colors to show the dark place inhabited by Foster´s character. Fleshtones are a little off because of the color filters used, but look quite good. Black levels are incredibly strong and the source materials are perfectly clean. I can´t recall any noticeable flaws in either the source elements or the digital presentation and this is a very solid looking film.
Audio:
Warner Bros. provides a clean sounding Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix for "The Brave One" as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in English, Quebec-dubbed French and Spanish. The TrueHD mix is, as typical, the way to go with the soundtrack and it is noticeably cleaner and more detailed than the basic Dolby Digital soundtrack. The standout element of the sound mix is the musical score by Dario Marianelli. It sounded wonderful and inhabited all six channels to effectively add to the tone of the picture. Gunfire echoes from all channels and the ambient sounds of the subway and the busy streets of New York City move cleanly from front to back and bring along the .1 LFE channel for more depth. Bass is deep and strong. Dialogue from both the on-screen dialogue and Jodie Foster´s narration is crisp and clean. "The Brave One" is not an in-your-face soundtrack, but it is very nicely done and uses the available technology to make the film more entertaining than it deserves to be.
Extras:
"The Brave One" Comes packed with a slim number of bonus materials. The value added content begins with I Walk the City (21:41) and features director Neil Jordan discussing how "The Brave One" is his homage to the vigilante film genre that includes such classics as Charles Bronson´s "Death Wish." The middle-length making-of feature is more promotional fluff than it is behind-the-scenes material. Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard and Joel Silver also provide some interview snippets, but the feature never gets too deep into anything. A collection of Additional Scenes (6:45) are thrown together and shown in a very droll 480p resolution complete with letterboxing and pillar boxing. The scenes are pretty decent in content and provides a little more back story to the characters, but these short sequences do not add anything of great value to the film. These two supplements are better than nothing, but "The Brave One" is a slim offering when compared to other Blu-ray releases.
Closing Comments:
I was underwhelmed and disappointed with "The Brave One." The premise of Jodie Foster playing a Charles Bronson-esque vigilante was wonderful and with Terrence Howard having a major role in the film, the cast was quite good. Unfortunately, the film struggled to provide a believable story to the character arc of Erica Bane and nearly every scene dripped of excessive convenience and coincidence. Instead of having the main character prowl the streets of New York, her victims literally fell into her lap. Naveen Andrews is quite familiar with flashbacks after his role on "Lost," but his flashbacks in this film didn´t really belong in the film. This isn´t what I would call a ´bad´ film, but it isn´t that good either. It is passable entertainment that is saved by strong performances and the dangerous streets of New York City. The Blu-ray release features strong visuals and a very competent soundtrack and while I wouldn´t call either reference material, they are well above average. The supplements are about as thin as Jodie Foster was in the film. Other than the sound and video, this could have been a better effort in both film value and supplements.
Video:
"The Brave One" is presented in a detailed and strong looking VC-1 encoded transfer. Shown in its theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1 and possessing the full 1080p resolution, the film isn´t quite reference material, but it is an above average looking film that makes the dangerous streets of New York City look beautiful. The level of detail is extremely strong and added to the old and busted appearance of Jodie Foster. You could count the wrinkles around her eyes. The streets and locations filmed look quite strong in detail. Coloring was also strong and the film´s hues were bright and properly contrasted. The film´s style reminds me in some ways of Neil Jordan´s "The Crying Game" in its palette and the director purposely pushes for cooler colors to show the dark place inhabited by Foster´s character. Fleshtones are a little off because of the color filters used, but look quite good. Black levels are incredibly strong and the source materials are perfectly clean. I can´t recall any noticeable flaws in either the source elements or the digital presentation and this is a very solid looking film.
Audio:
Warner Bros. provides a clean sounding Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix for "The Brave One" as well as Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks in English, Quebec-dubbed French and Spanish. The TrueHD mix is, as typical, the way to go with the soundtrack and it is noticeably cleaner and more detailed than the basic Dolby Digital soundtrack. The standout element of the sound mix is the musical score by Dario Marianelli. It sounded wonderful and inhabited all six channels to effectively add to the tone of the picture. Gunfire echoes from all channels and the ambient sounds of the subway and the busy streets of New York City move cleanly from front to back and bring along the .1 LFE channel for more depth. Bass is deep and strong. Dialogue from both the on-screen dialogue and Jodie Foster´s narration is crisp and clean. "The Brave One" is not an in-your-face soundtrack, but it is very nicely done and uses the available technology to make the film more entertaining than it deserves to be.
Extras:
"The Brave One" Comes packed with a slim number of bonus materials. The value added content begins with I Walk the City (21:41) and features director Neil Jordan discussing how "The Brave One" is his homage to the vigilante film genre that includes such classics as Charles Bronson´s "Death Wish." The middle-length making-of feature is more promotional fluff than it is behind-the-scenes material. Jodie Foster, Terrence Howard and Joel Silver also provide some interview snippets, but the feature never gets too deep into anything. A collection of Additional Scenes (6:45) are thrown together and shown in a very droll 480p resolution complete with letterboxing and pillar boxing. The scenes are pretty decent in content and provides a little more back story to the characters, but these short sequences do not add anything of great value to the film. These two supplements are better than nothing, but "The Brave One" is a slim offering when compared to other Blu-ray releases.
Closing Comments:
I was underwhelmed and disappointed with "The Brave One." The premise of Jodie Foster playing a Charles Bronson-esque vigilante was wonderful and with Terrence Howard having a major role in the film, the cast was quite good. Unfortunately, the film struggled to provide a believable story to the character arc of Erica Bane and nearly every scene dripped of excessive convenience and coincidence. Instead of having the main character prowl the streets of New York, her victims literally fell into her lap. Naveen Andrews is quite familiar with flashbacks after his role on "Lost," but his flashbacks in this film didn´t really belong in the film. This isn´t what I would call a ´bad´ film, but it isn´t that good either. It is passable entertainment that is saved by strong performances and the dangerous streets of New York City. The Blu-ray release features strong visuals and a very competent soundtrack and while I wouldn´t call either reference material, they are well above average. The supplements are about as thin as Jodie Foster was in the film. Other than the sound and video, this could have been a better effort in both film value and supplements.
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