Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Braven Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 5, 2019

Brave posited a scrappy heroine with long, flowing tresses who defeated villains with the help of her trusty bow and arrow. Change that film's title by one letter, the gender of the scrappy focal character to male, and leave intact the flowing tresses and bow and arrow parts, and you have at least the semblance of what Braven is about. Add in a parent addled by both traumatic brain injury and dementia, drug smugglers attempting to retrieve some lost cocaine, and a little girl who stows away in the family truck in order to get some quality time with her Dad, and you have a better idea of some of the plot mechanics that offer Jason Momoa (he of those aforementioned long, flowing tresses) as one Joe Braven, a decent working stiff running a logging company while also trying to keep track of his father, Linden (Steven Lang), whose head injury has sent the whole family reeling due to its unpredictable effects on Linden's behavior. Joe is supported by his loving wife Stephanie (Jill Wagner) and sweet daughter Charlotte (Sasha Rossof), though there's the unmistakable whiff of foreshadowing fairly early into this enterprise that some danger may imperil the little girl.

When Linden's addle pated activities get him into a little hot water, Joe decides to take him on a bit of a forced "vacation" to an isolated cabin. Unfortunately, drug runners headed by Kassen (Garret Dillahunt) have been attempting to use an employee of Joe's named Weston (Brendan Fletcher) for their illicit "business" dealings, leading to a stash of cocaine conveniently left on the property Joe and his Dad are staying at. Did I mention Charlotte has crept into the vehicle and is along for the ride? And so there are the makings of this fitfully exciting yarn, which attempts to blend more traditional "hostage family" elements with a supposedly more insightful look at an adult man attempting to come to terms with his obviously diminished capacity parent. It's an odd mix at best, and kind of laugh out loud ludicrous at worst, but it provides a jolt or two of adrenaline and provides a good showcase for Momoa's athleticism.

Braven Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Braven is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The IMDb lists the Red Epic, and I'm assuming things were finished at a 2K DI. Red cameras often offer really superior clarity, and so I have to assume that the gritty tweaking that has been done to certain scenes, like the bar fight sequence that gets Linden into trouble, or a late night, orange tinted rendezvous between Mr. and Mrs. Braven, was an intentional stylistic choice. It does tend to give this presentation a kind of schizophrenic feel, general detail levels varying depending on how aggressively the texturizing has been added to the image. The wintry lit daylight scenes outdoors are appropriately cool, palette wise, but tend to offer the best overall fine detail levels.

Braven Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Braven features an intermittently immersive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track, one that springs to life in sequences like the bar fight, or, later, once guns and/or other weapons (including Momoa's fists, of course) start getting deployed. The outdoor scenes do have nice ambient effects dotting the surrounds. Dialogue is presented cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation.

Braven Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• The Braven's Views (1080p; 10:16) is standard issue EPK fare, though some of the clips it includes might be thought of as spoiler laden. Also, some curmudgeons (ahem) may wonder what's up with " The Braven".

Braven Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The "hostage family" aspect of this has a couple of interesting sidebars, including Linden's addled mental state, but really on balance this is a pretty standard action adventure flick, one with the good sense to posit Momoa front and center most of the time. Technical merits are generally strong for those considering a purchase.