Cop and a Half: New Recruit Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Cop and a Half: New Recruit Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman April 30, 2019

The last few years have seen Universal digging back into the 90s catalogue to find out-of-nowhere "sequels" for a couple of its more popular, or at least recognizable, films. Kindergarten Cop 2 replaced Arnold with Dolph Lundgren and pitted him against a classroom full of progressive five-year-olds, and it actually kinda-sorta worked. Cop and a Half: New Recruit plops Lou Diamond Phillips (perhaps an odd casting choice but effective nonetheless, or at least as effective as an actor can be in a throwaway movie like this) into the Burt Reynolds role against a new pint-sized sidekick who lacks the charm and charisma of the then-young Norman D. Golden II. Movies don't come much more generic than this one; it's made of a dull plot, predictable character beats, and humor that plays it so safe that the film's best jokes involve Phillips getting slimed with silly string or covered in suds at a car wash. He's a trooper (and obviously in need or want of a paycheck).

Lou Diamond Phillips plays Detective Simmons, a grungy cop who is on the case of a mystery person known as the "Badge Bandit" who is making a mess of things around the city, using items like silly string and an army of drones powered by supercharged batteries, in an effort to humiliate the police force. Simmons' investigation is going nowhere until grade schooler Karina Foley (Lulu Wilson), an aspiring detective who models her work after her late father, catches Simmons in the act of staking out a place of interest and forcibly inserts herself into the case. Turns out the two make a pretty good pair, and they will have to work together, utilizing his experience and her technical know-how, in order to nab one of the city's most persistent criminals.

It’s a whole new world out there since the first Cop and a Half hit theaters a quarter-century ago. The basic premise remains the same, but the new child-cop is a tech savvy brain, unlike the original’s Devon Butler who was more into the rough and gritty side of police work, more interested in handcuffing bad guys than tracking them down digitally. Karina makes use of her phone’s camera, location trackers, and account hacking in the line of duty, whether in her own investigations of bullies around school or as she becomes more and more immersed in Simmons’ investigation. And, surprise, surprise, Simmons is not really up on modern tech. He carries a flip phone, doesn’t have a clue what FaceTime is, and prefers to get his hands dirty (most of the time) rather than rely on the wonders of the digital age to solve his case. It’s a tired dynamic that the film does nothing of interest with, but it’s definitely the film’s focal point, particularly considering the rather abundant usage of drones (which appear as fairly poor, but not laughable, digital effects).

The plot is really inconsequential and, frankly, a bore. The saving grace is nobody is going to come into a movie like this hoping for some Shakespearean experience with world changing dramatic content on offer. The movie at least delivers what is expected of it, a straightforward linear experience of lowest common denominator storytelling drivers that are simply a framework for the Karina-Simmons relationship and the humor that flows from it. The actors are fine in terms of how they shape the characters and maneuver through the story, but the movie just regurgitates old dynamics and stale jokes that do nothing to carry the material where it’s needed most in that central relationship. Neither character is given a compelling backstory, either, and even Karina’s -- her father was a cop who passed away and she’s hungry to carry on his legacy -- is rather simplistic, moving insofar as it's a basic human response to feel remorse for her situation but the truth is that it adds nothing fresh to a movie that is very content to be nothing but a poor-man’s rehash of the superior (though obviously itself no great shakes) original.

Cop and a Half: New Recruit Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Why Cop and a Half: New Recruit has made its way to Blu-ray when the DVD released a good bit prior to the BD and while fans are obviously waiting with bated breath for a proper 1080p release of Kindergarten Cop 2 is anyone's guess. Either way, the 1080p transfer is fine for what is a rather low end digital production. Colors are healthy and vibrant. The palette has been tuned with an even contrast that leaves the image healthy and delightful, allowing brighter primaries to pop and darker shades to settle. Textures are clear and well defined. The image is not particularly flat and the Blu-ray proves more than capable of bringing out the absolute finest detailing on faces and clothes (Karina's denim jacket is a particularly good example; a dialogue scene in a car at the 66 minute mark is a great example of the image's textural finesse). The image is clean and noise is never overly intrusive, though it does appear even in fairly well-lit scenes, such as during a daytime diner interior at the 63-minute mark. Otherwise, there are no major source or encode blemishes worth noting.

Cop and a Half: New Recruit Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cop and a Half: New Recruit's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack begins with a lively rendition of Real Wild Child, offering quality stage permeation and a pleasantly robust low end component. Music maintains a similar delivery for the duration, offering wide front end spacing, active but not overpowering surround usage, and quality clarity from the high end to the low. Action scenes lack excellence and depth, but the basic sound effects are fine within the movie's obviously lower budget sound design. The track makes good use of every speaker at its disposal to fully immerse the listener into the undemanding but appropriately active action. Light atmospherics help draw the listener into various locales throughout the film, again all properly positioned and detailed. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and grounded in the front-center channel.

Cop and a Half: New Recruit Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Cop and a Half: New Recruit contains two featurettes. The film begins playback immediately upon disc insertion and the extras must be accessed in-film via the pop-up menu button. No top menu screen is included. This release does not ship with DVD or digital copies. No slipcover is included, either.

• The Making of Cop and a Half: New Recruit (1080p, 5:21): Cast and crew talk up the story and style, the characters and actors, performances, the movie's technology themes, photography, production design, and more.
• Lou and Lulu: Partners in Crime Solving (1080p, 4:05): A closer look at the characters and the actors who portray them.

Cop and a Half: New Recruit Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps the next 90s Universal film to earn an in-name-only sequel will be Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot. Or maybe it'll be Problem Child. If either materializes, no doubt there will be major plot points that involve an older character incapable of dealing with new technology. Cop and a Half: New Recruit is a predictable and forgettable DTV sequel that has nothing going for it beyond the name of a movie that wasn't, and isn't, all that popular anyway. It's just barely acceptable as a mindless time killer that is fit for the whole family, but for as mediocre as the original was, it's far better than this. Universal's Blu-ray delivers perfectly good video and audio presentations. A couple of brief featurettes are included. Skip it.