Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		1.5

Acts of Violence Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 22, 2018

For what seems like a fairly standard (mostly) straight to video release, Acts of Violence sure wants to be about a lot. There’s an underlying plot conceit involving a kidnapping and the sex trafficking industry (in Cleveland of all places) that seems almost willfully lifted from Taken. But instead of a father with a “particular set of skills”, Acts of Violence brings in a veritable host of vigilantes, which then introduces a whole new gamut of subplots. There’s a vet named Deklan MacGregor (Cole Hauser), who is suffering from debilitating post traumatic stress disorder after two tours in places like Afghanistan. Deklan’s younger brother Brandon (Shawn Ashmore) is also a vet, though perhaps not quite as psychologically wounded as Deklan. And the youngest MacGregor sibling, Roman (Ashton Holmes), attempts to keep his brothers on track while he tries to keep his emotions under control since it’s his fiancée who is the kidnap victim. But, wait, you also get: the whole reason the MacGregor brothers get involved in trying to track down the whereabouts of their would be spouse and/or sister-in-law, and to bring the nefarious sex traffickers to justice, is because the police forces assigned to a larger case involving Cleveland’s sex trade have been spectacularly ineffective. That is brought home in one of the first scenes of the film, when partners James Avery (Bruce Willis) and Brooke Baker (Sophia Bush) burst into a downtown warehouse where several girls are being kept, only to discover the one victim they’re trying to free has already expired.

Relatively early in this enterprise Avery confesses to Baker, “I’m tired of this,” and it’s one of the few line readings Willis gives where he seems to be actually emotionally engaged. Action adventure fans have gotten used to Willis showing up as the putative “star” in any number of B-level (and that’s maybe being generous) offerings where it’s obvious he was flown in for a day or two so that he could phone in a performance. But even by Willis “is the paycheck ready yet?” standards, this is a really amazingly uninvolved performance. There’s even a scene where Avery is supposedly shooting a bad guy where it looks like Willis doesn’t even care if the gun is pointed in the ostensible victim’s direction. Now some may argue that this is “method” acting beyond reproach, since one of the film’s subtexts is that the police aren’t exactly models of modern investigative brilliance. Except — Avery is supposed to be the exception, the guy who goes out on a limb to help a desperate family when the “authorized” way of doing things doesn’t pay fast enough dividends.

When Roman’s fiancée Mia (Melissa Bolona) is kidnapped on a downtown street after a raucous bachelorette party, she becomes a pawn in a human trafficking scheme hatched by local villain Max (Mike Epps). But the whole trafficking scheme is kind of on wobbly ground to begin with, since the police are already aware of it, even if their internal procedures have prevented Avery and Baker from completely cracking the case. But with the film documenting the bad guys already in the sights of the good guys, why would they do such a high profile abduction, especially of a woman with obvious connections to the community? (At least Taken got the kidnap victims into an “unknown” locale before springing the trap on them.) That, along with the almost somnambulant performance by Willis, tends to undercut some potentially exciting action scenes, especially since it does in fact turn out that Deklan and Brandon do have a “particular set of skills”, skills which include really accurate automatic weapons fire.

In some of the supplemental material included on this release, much is made of the whole post traumatic stress syndrome subplot, and how that supposedly is the focal element. But it’s a “convenience” that is easily shunted to the wayside as soon as more traditional action adventure heroics are called for, in just one of this film’s odd segues from supposedly “meaningful” content to outright cliché.

Perhaps incredibly, my colleague Brian Orndorf liked Acts of Violence even less than I did. You can read Brian’s take on things here.

Acts of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Acts of Violence is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. The film was digitally captured with Arri Alexa Minis, and as director of photography Edd Lukas discusses in some of the supplements included in this release, he graded many scenes to achieve a kind of orange or even sepia-like tone, all within an intentionally desaturated look. It gives some of the nighttime material a rather interesting appearance, one that perhaps doesn't completely support fine detail levels, especially in midrange and wide shots, but which at least doesn't hew to the seemingly unavoidable cobalt blue grading that action adventure outings like this so often offer. There are a number of other digital tweaks that have been applied to some imagery, including brief flashbacks of tours of duty and a montage early on showing the MacGregors as children and some post-war footage (see screenshots 6 through 8 for some examples). In normal lighting conditions, detail levels remain generally high, but a lot of the nighttime or other material (as in the club where Mia goes for her bachelorette party) is either lit or graded aggressively enough that some fine detail levels are mitigated. There are a few passing (minor) issues with noise in some darker moments.

Acts of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Acts of Violence has an appropriately boisterous sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix, one which derives consistent and occasionally pretty forceful surround activity courtesy of the shootouts that bookend proceedings, as well as various other moments that include things like hand to hand combat. The party scene also contains a good spill of sonics in the side and rear channels, offering a nicely chaotic feel for what is already a drug and alcohol fueled sequence. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this enjoyable audio presentation.

Acts of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Director's Commentary


• Making Acts of Violence (1080p; 12:19) has some fun behind the scenes footage and okay interviews with Brett Donohue and members of the cast.


• Cast and Crew Interviews (1080p; 51:30) include Brett Donohue, Cole Hauser, Mike Epps, Sophia Bush, Ashton Holmes, Edd Lukas, and Shawn Ashmore. Notice any conspicuous absences?


• Acts of Violence Trailer (1080p; 2:26)

Acts of Violence Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I doubt even Die Hard Bruce Willis fans will find enough in Acts of Violence to satisfy them, but for those who are considering a purchase, technical merits, especially audio, are fine.