SMOKIN' ACES - Blu-ray review

I'm very skeptical of this year's big screen adaptation of the Eighties iconic television series "The A-Team." It's almost a guarantee that these nostalgic reinventions turn out to be average at best and most times are crud. However, the cast assembled for "The A-Team" looks to be pretty good and instead of having somebody like McG running the show, Joe Carnahan has been give the director's chair. While his 2007 film "Smokin' Aces" was not met with the warmest of critical reception, it was a good concept and a cleverly shot picture that was just a few small elements away from being something special. I won't completely fault Carnahan's writing or directing as to why "Smokin' Aces" has scored a lowly 27% on Rotten Tomatoes, but he at least shows enough in this film to give hope for "The A-Team."

One problem with "Smokin' Aces" is that the film is instantly compared to the older Guy Richie films such as "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch" and also to Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece "Pulp Fiction." It certainly borrows elements from those pictures and Carnahan does his best to be as witty and clever as the masters in this foray into the crime genre. It is a serviceable film and better than anything recent by Richie, but "Smokin' Aces" slowly devolves into a convoluted mess of a film that tangles a web so complex it can't get itself out of its own tangled mess. This is a movie that tries to be as cool as the older kids, but it lacks the charisma to rise above being another slightly clever rehash of what has already been done.

Another problem with "Smokin' Aces" is the strong cast that weighs down the picture. Ray Liotta is a talented actor and he and Andy Garcia share the responsibility of being the A-Listers on this production, but neither get a large amount of time to try and help "Smokin' Aces" be a better film. Liotta is given a few scenes earlier in the film, but then he is gunned down before the midpoint of the film in an elevator and as a blood-soaked FBI agent, he isn't given a lot of lines. Garcia portrays Stanley Locke, the FBI Director. His best moments are near the end of the time to reveal the film's big plot twist. He has moments here and there, but nothing truly stands out. He almost seems bored in his performance.

Ryan Reynolds and Jeremy Piven are the lead actors for this film. Reynolds stars as Agent Richard Messner; a rookie who is just learning the ropes and partnered with veteran Agent Carruthers (Liotta). Reynolds is best remembered as party boy Van Wilder, but he does a good job as a wet-behind-the-ears agent. It took a few minutes to get Van Wilder out of my mind and after that I was fully accepting of Reynolds. Piven is Buddy "Aces" Israel, a Vegas entertainer with a huge ego that found the ultimate rush in becoming a mobster. His ties to mob crime boss Primo Sparazza (Joseph Rushkin) have him in the witness protection program and everybody is out to collect the million dollar price on his head. He is a major asshole who loves drugs and women, but deep down he is a weasel who wants to save his own skin.

A number of assassin's and bounty hunters converge upon the hotel where Israel is being holed up in the penthouse. Rip Reed (Justin Bateman) hires a trio of bounty hunters to track down Israel after his law firm bailed the former entertainer out of jail and Reed fears Israel will jump bail. Reed hires bondsman Jack Dupree (Ben Affleck) to find Israel and bring him into custody. Dupree's partners include former Las Vegas policemen Pete Deeks (Peter Berg) and Hollis Elmore (Martin Henderson). They were fired from the force for corruption charges. Unfortunately, the three are gunned down by the skinhead Tremor brothers Lester (Maury Sterling), Darwin (Chris Pine) and Jeeves (Kevin Durand) before getting to the hotel. The Tremor brothers take their disguises and go after Israel.

Other assassin's include a number of infamous killers. Lazlo Soot (Tommy Flanagan) is known for his ability to create latex masks of impeccable likeness and uses them to infiltrate his target's environment. He kills Israel's bodyguard Hugo (Joel Edgerton) and assumes his identity and manages to escape the carnage of the film's shootouts. Georgia Sykes (Alicia Keys) and Sharice Watters (Taraji P. Henson) are two women who also take the job and decide to use Israel's lust for women to their advantage. Georgia goes undercover as a call girl and Sharice is armed with a lethal fifty caliber sniper rifle. The final assassin looking to make a quick million is a demented killer who enjoys torturing his victims. Pasquale Acosta (Nester Carbonell) is know as the Plague and he kills hotel security officer Bill (Matthew Fox) to assume his identity and sneak into the penthouse.

There are a lot of bullets flying through the air and while some of the action requires a level of alleviated disbelief, "Smokin' Aces" is a slickly done action shooter. The film benefits from a fairly good cast that also includes cameos by Curtis Armstrong and Wayne Newton and while nobody earned or was worthy of an award, it seems as if everybody had fun making the movie. An early performance from "Star Trek's" new Captain Kirk Chris Pine is included as well as the first performance by rapper Common. I love a good action film as much as the next guy and "Smokin' Aces" is one of those pictures that is average at best, but fun enough to watch to sit through the entire picture. The ending feels tacked on and while clues were given through the film to make it not seem like it was completely out of left field, that is how it feels when the big twist is revealed.

Carnahan was certainly inspired by Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" and the early crime films of Guy Richie. He interjects plenty of dialogue that is nowhere as witty and clever as something penned by Tarantino, but it's hardly dull. There are times of lull, but the film never slows to a halt. It's a little over the top that so many guns arrive at a location that was supposed to be a secret and secure, but the big reveal at the end poorly strives to fill plot holes. While Carnahan may lack the originality or skills of the genre's masters, he shows that he is a director that is more than capable of piecing a fun action film together. He wrote and directed this story and "Smokin' Aces" isn't going to be much inspiration for future filmmakers. However, Carnahan's picture is worth sitting down to and he gives me hope that the forthcoming "The A-Team" picture won't completely blow chunks.

Video:

Director Joe Carnahan and cinematographer Mauro Fiore paint a slightly subdued palette for "Smokin' Aces" that has the 2.35:1 framed film look similar in age to "Pulp Fiction" or "Snatch" with drained overcontrasted colors that make the film look slightly less pleasing to the eyes. However, the film is detailed and the transfer does nothing to betray the artistic vision by its filmmakers. I watched this film and its direct-to-video prequel back-to-back and will state that the prequel is far prettier, but my less enthusiastic opinion of the transfer is not a fault of the technology. Black levels are generally good and shadow detail isn't given much to do as this film takes place in brightly lit locations. There is a minor amount of film grain that adds to the film's visual style. I wasn't blown away by "Smokin' Aces" visually, but the transfer does the job.

Audio:

From the catchy and familiar Motorhead song "Ace of Spades" to the other licensed musical selections "Smokin' Aces" has a nice set of music for its soundtrack, but the title is a strong sounding release that benefits from its DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. There is a lot of gunfire in the film and this ranges from a Barrett sniper rifle to automatic gunfire. It is a wonderful mix of music and violence. Sound travels to the listener from every direction and anything from the whizzing of bullets to the shattering of a glass table sounds pretty good. The film doesn't have a blockbuster level mix and it isn't as aggressive as a bigger and pricier action film, but I found this to be a loud and engaging multi-channel surround title. If you enjoy shoot-em up films, this is one of the better sounding ones.

Extras:

The disc begins with the slow-loading and somewhat problematic promotional pushing technology employed by Universal that delivers a different set of advertisements every time you load the disc. Sometime you will get a loud ad for the upcoming Olympic Games. Other times you will get a clip for the film "Pirate Radio" or a new Ben Stiller film. I just hope my player gets better at handling these discs. The title features the Universal Ticker, My Scenes, D-Box Motion Enabled coding and U-Control features that push the technology of Blu-ray. Picture in Picture video clips are included in fourteen of the twenty chapters and provide a good mix of making of footage and interviews. Assassin's Tracker appears in half the chapters and provides a pop-up window utilizing Google Maps to show the movements of the assassin's as they converge on Reno. This is neat stuff and it provides a funny leaderboard to show the status of each, but the map is very small.

The stand-alone items are limited in number, but worth taking a quick gander at. The four Deleted and Extended Scenes (9:35) are each quite long. Two are longer and alternate takes, while two were scenes omitted from the final film. They are worth watching at least once. A number of Outtakes (9:29) add to the bonus footage. This was other shot material that didn't appear in the film and also flubbed lines and other set tomfoolery. The deleted scenes also include the separately listed Cowboy Ending (1:05). This is an alternate ending where Ryan Reynolds has a different way of closing out the film and involves guns. The Lineup (13:27) is a collection of five vignettes that looks at the characters in the movie with interviews talking about the characters. The Big Gun (11:54) doesn't focus on the awesome Barrett .50 cal used in the film, but on its writer/director Joe Carnahan. It's a decent making of piece. Shoot' Em Up: Stunts and Effects (4:53) is the last stand-alone feature and looks at the technical aspects of making the film.

Two commentary tracks are included on the Blu-ray disc. Both are informative, but listening to them in their entirety could become an exercise in stamina as I'm not sure sitting through this film three times in short order is an easy task. There is a Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Joe Carnahan and Editor Robert Frazen as well as a Feature Commentary with Writer/Director Joe Carnahan, Common, Christopher Holley and Zach Cumer. Cumer portrayed the thick glasses wearing ninja in training that terrorized one of the characters in the film in a very minor role and Christopher Michael Holley played the bodyguard Beanie, who was quickly disposed of. While two involved in the second commentary had minimal exposure in the film, it is nice to see Carnahan give them a little more exposure in this commentary.

Closing:

I enjoyed "Smokin' Aces," but I'm somebody who typically enjoys a good bullet-ridden crime film. Tarantino is one of my favorite directors and I love the old Guy Richie films. Joe Carnahan must feel the same way because this movie is heavily influenced by their works. The film is fun, but it has its flaws and doesn't do anything particularly fresh. I would gladly recommend the picture to anybody with similar tastes and while it isn't nearly as good as those it imitates, it's an entertaining little film with some good stars. The Blu-ray disc looks and sounds pretty good and there are some decent supplements. Yes, there are a lot better choices of Blu-ray. However, there is a definite audience for somebody who wants a picture that has some intelligence and lots of cool guns. Unlike its sequel, there are no exploding clowns, but that isn't a bad thing.