Synopsis
This is a tale of two adopted brothers. One (Paul Sampson) stayed home in Jersey, becominga hit man for the Mob. The other (Patrick Muldoon) tried to escape that life, and became anassassin for the CIA. When computer nerd Judge Reinhold discovers a crooked deal arrangedby a rogue CIA officer, a contract is taken out on his life, and Sampson gets the job. Reinholdruns to Muldoon for help, thus reuniting the brothers, who realize the Agency goon has beenmanipulating them. Now they fi…ht back.
This is essentially a sub-Boondock Saints exercise, with the same cheerful approachto gunplay and family loyalty. The opening is very stylish, and promises more delights ahead,but subsequently the movie becomes more and more routine, the humour more and more forced,and any scene featuring Carmen Electra crashes and burns. We won’t even talk about the utterlyromanticized view of the Mob. Still, entertaining enough for 91 minutes.
Audio
The audio (in both 5.1 and 2.0) is extremely active, but some of its energy is misdirected.Though there are plenty of deafening music cues and sound effects roaring out of the rearspeakers, the levels are inconsistent, sometimes drowning out the front speakers. As a generalrule, the front speakers lack energy, and for all the boom and bang in the surround arena, theoverall sound is rather thin.
Video
The 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer has variable levels of grain. Some of the nightscenes are quite bad, with blacks and colours breaking up under the grain. the image is a bit soft,and the layer transition is very awkward. When the grain is minimal (which is, fortunately, mostof the time), the colours are still variable, ranging from the very rich to the pale and artificial(greens and reds are a particular problem).
Special Features
The making-of featurette is the usual promotional piece, though the leads bounce off eachother in amusing ways. There’s also some behind-the-scenes on-set footage, and a scoredouttakes reel. And there’s the trailer. The menu’s main screen is animated and scored, but in arather jerky, cheap-looking way.
Closing Thoughts
It may want to be The Boondock Saints, but it sure as hell isn’t. An okay B-picture.
Special Features List
- Making-of Featurette
- On-Set Footage
- Outtakes
- Trailer
