Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.5

Ava Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman December 11, 2020

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 one of those films that gives a character's entire troubled history as a montage under the opening credits, though by the time those unspool, Ava Faulkner (Jessica Chastain) has already "closed" a "client". Ava's background and current psychological state play rather heavily into the film, and not always to its benefit. Chastain acquits herself quite ably in the action adventure mold, carrying out a series of brutal looking hand to hand combat scenes, but the "drama" here in terms of Ava's desire to connect with her victims before eliminating them and, more problematically, in her dysfunctional relationships with her mother Bobbi (Geena Davis) and sister Jude (Jess Weixler), can often make this film feel like La Femme Nikita as reimagined by Douglas Sirk.

The pro assassin angle has this subgenre's typical intrigue, with Ava's mentor Duke (John Malkovich) sparring with his erstwhile acolyte but now superior Simon (Colin Farrell) as to whether Ava has become a liability and should be "closed" herself. What is evidently meant to give Ava more of a unique identity, including a backstory involving addiction and substance abuse, as well as a beyond strained relationship with her mother and daughter, too often tips into soap operatic territory mixed with almost a certain camp aspect. That is especially apparent in a totally weird subplot that sees Jude's boyfriend Michael (Common) revealed as the former boyfriend of Ava, who is involved in a gambling den (yes, a den) run by an imperious woman named Toni (Tina Chen), who is (this seems to be a trend with this film) revealed to have her own history with Ava. It's all too ridiculous by half, especially when Ava shows up at a 12 step meeting to discuss her "issues" (I kind of half wanted her to say, "I just keep killing people, I'm not sure why.")

The only real suspense here, considering the kind of dual stunt casting of Farrell and Malkovich, is which one is going to end up being the main nemesis assigned to the final showdown. Kind of interestingly, then, the film doesn't really obscure what's going on for very long, instead giving ample screen time to Ava first sparring with and then (of course) making peace with her mom and sister. The film is often quite scenic as it supposedly globe trots as Ava engages in international assassination assignments, and the fight scenes themselves are bracingly staged. The whole film seems resolutely small scale, though, as if Chastain in her producer role decided to star in a film that might ultimately be spun off into some kind of television series.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was at least a little more positively disposed toward the film than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts here.

Ava Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

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 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

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.

Ava Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are offered on this Blu-ray disc.

Ava Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

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.