5.7 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Ava is a deadly assassin who works for a black ops organization, traveling the globe specializing in high profile hits. When a job goes dangerously wrong she is forced to fight for her own survival.
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Colin Farrell, Diana Silvers, Geena Davis, John MalkovichAction | 100% |
Drama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: LPCM 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 0.0 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
It's maybe just a little surprising that anyone is left alive around these parts, not necessarily due to only the horrifying pandemic we've all been experiencing, but to the frankly incredible surplus of professional hitmen (and women) the film world keeps telling us have infiltrated into everyday life (and/or death, as the case may be). Ava is yet another entry in the by now probably overly tired subgenre of female assassins who, aside from attempting to carry out their various "missions", also have a whole ton of personal baggage to slog through. Ava was obviously designed to allow star Jessica Chastain (who also co-produced) a chance to get her "Alias" on courtesy of a series of alter egos who, whether her ultimate targets realize it or not, are femmes fatales in the most literal sense of that word.
Jessica Chastain or Jessica Rabbit?
Ava is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Vertical Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. I haven't been able to dig up any authoritative data on the shoot, and the IMDb doesn't really offer other than there was a DI (really?) and that Panavision lenses were used. This is a competently digitally captured film that I assume was finished at 2K, and for the most part, the imagery is sharp and precise looking, if often rather lacking much depth. A few grading and/or lighting choices have been made, including bathing a couple of Malkovich's scenes in almost baby blues, but on the whole the palette looks natural and nicely suffused. There are some especially evocative primaries scattered throughout the film, with reds often quite striking (there's a scene with Ava in a "little red riding hood" that is awfully similar to a memorable image from Homeland: The Complete Fourth Season , featured on the cover and also discussed in my review of that season). I'm assuming some supposed establishing shots were sourced from stock footage and can look less detailed than the bulk of the presentation. There is some very minor crush along with a bit of noise in a club scene toward the end when Ava takes on Toni.
Ava features a workmanlike DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that delivers its most notable surround activity in the action scenes, specifically with regard to things like the cracks and whomps of hand to hand combat or repeated gunfire in a couple of instances. A big scene involving an assassination gone awry probably provides the best immersion in the film, along with the later aforementioned scene in Toni's den of iniquity where there's a big dance party going on. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free track. Optional English subtitles are available.
No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.
There have been so many films over the preceding decades devoted to troubled female assassins that Ava needed to have a lot more than "mere" family dysfunction, a history of substance abuse, and/or present day psychological unraveling to make it stand out from the pack. Chastain is as watchable as ever, but even she, along with Malkovich and Farrell, seem to be just going through the paces, always professional, but rarely really totally involving. Technical merits are generally solid for those who are considering a purchase.
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