Cross Wars Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		2.5

Cross Wars Blu-ray Movie Review

The Asylum Called. They Want Their Movie Back.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 3, 2017

Cross Wars has every hallmark of the typical Asylum film except for the studio's logo at the beginning and on the back of the box. It's a dreadful movie of minuscule production values, dull writing, lazy acting, laughable digital effects, poorly developed characters, a nonsensical plot, dreadful pacing...need the list go on? The film is apparently a sequel to the 2011 film Cross, which was never released on Blu-ray, and mercifully so if it's anything like this film (and for the sake of the entire Blu-ray.com review team). At least with The Asylum, audiences know what they're getting themselves into. But this is just bad, and released under a major studio label at that. A chore to watch, painful to write about, and a challenge for any reviewer, such as this one, who always looks for at least something positive to say, of which this may be the only thing: maybe it just feels worse following on the review schedule after terrific stuff like Arrival, Daredevil (the TV show, not the Affleck movie, which would look like pure gold next to Cross Wars), and October Sky. Nah. This is just bad, and would still be just as bad even if it were a chaser to Apocalypse Pompeii.

It's all downhill from the menu screen.

A girl walks into a comic book shop, hands over a mysterious gem, and receives in return the only known copy of the Cross comic. The story goes something like this: gods once chose special warriors to watch over the world and handed down special amulets to them. The most powerful of these is the Cross of Isles. Anyway, these warriors are now protecting modern day Los Angeles. Their leader is Callan (Brian Austin Green). His team comes under attack from the dastardly Muerte (Danny Trejo) and the immortal Gunnar (Vinnie Jones). Callan's team is good, but it's going to need help to survive. Enter Riley (Amy Jane) and her team of all-girl fighters to help save the day! Or something.

Another Asylum trait is the "coaxing once-respected actors to appear in an awful movie." Going back to that "anything positive to say," the cast list is at least enticing and more star-studded than most anything ever churned out of the Asylum factory. But it does star Danny Trejo and Vinnie Jones, two actors who have come to thrive as bankable faces in the movie geek marketplace. Tom Sizemore adds a bit of gravitas to the production (even as he completely sleepwalks through his part) and Brian Austin Green, best known as one of the main cast members in Beverly Hills, 90210 (can someone please bring that show to Blu-ray?), plays the lead. It's an admittedly solid roster. And they're all good, dependable actors with a lot of range and the ability to prop up almost any film. Almost. Not drivel like Cross Wars, though. Not a movie that surrounds them with so much lazy filmmaking, on a budget, yes, but lazy nevertheless, the sort that even good actors can't save from an uninspired script, disinterested production design, see the entire list above. This is a throwaway movie, something that might make for decent background noise but that's about it.

What else...what else...expand on the bad CGI? This is the sort of movie in which muzzle blasts and blood splatters are digital, and the murky, unconvincing kind at that. Explosions and fires are laughable, the element simply overlaid atop an object, like old cars or a brick building. There's very little care to in-camera production values or post-production manipulation. It feels like an "off the street" movie, the sort that given some decent gear puts it above the prosumer level but still a far cry from a top- or even midrange professional digital production. It just oozes cheapness, little effort, and even less thought. Action has no sense of momentum, kinetic energy, realism, or even heightened stylization. It's just the actors standing around pretending to shoot guns, and more physical fisticuffs and throws and the use of special powers and whatnot comes across as low energy and lower expended effort on the actors' part. Jokes fall flat, the movie is dramatically empty, it's just a sloth of a film even at 90 minutes, a chore to watch and harder to stay awake or keep from picking up the phone to do whatever it is people do on their phones during the movies (benefit of home theater...nobody to yell at the light down front). The movie, in a word? Ugh.

Cross Wars Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cross Wars is a budget, digitally shot film and it shows on Blu-ray. It's fairly flat, digital-glossy in places, too, but detailing holds up well enough. It's not a reference for textural wonders, but it presents the basics -- faces, clothes, brick walls, old cars in a junkyard -- with plenty of effortless definition and natural sharpness. Close-ups are capable of revealing fine hairs, makeup, pores, and the like with quality, intimate definition. Colors are fine, displaying good natural vibrancy, not a ton of subtle complexity but enough punch to please in the primaries and a good balance to flatter background shades. Black levels do have a tendency to push a bit purple, and source noise is commonplace, even in well-lit scenes; the 14-minute mark is a good example. There aren't any other serious bouts of banding or aliasing to report. It's a fairly straightforward, as-expected presentation of a lower end digital production.

Cross Wars Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Cross Wars' DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack delivers a healthy, if not a bit commonplace, listening experience. Gunshots pop from every corner during firefights. The opening scrapyard shootout offers a good example of the track's capabilities. Shots punch out form every corner and draw the listener into the mayhem. The punch isn't quite up to lifelike standards, but the total effect is enjoyable. Punches, crashes, explosions, the usual action movie staples find enough energy, spacing, and clarity to please. Atmospherics are decently filling, whether light and natural background ambience outside or small little details around various locations in the film. Music is nicely spread along the front, finds a light surround element, and plays with nicely balanced clarity and an edginess when the right music is on. Dialogue is clear and front-center positioned. No prioritization problems are evident.

Cross Wars Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Cross Wars contains two supplements. No DVD or digital versions are included.

• Audio Commentary: Director Patrick Durham and Executive Producer Gary T. Williams share their thoughts on the film.
• Alternate Credits (1080p, 1:56): Alternate opening titles.

Cross Wars Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cross Wars is borderline unwatchable. It's extraordinarily cheap, which doesn't necessarily mean "bad movie," but it's cheap in feel and presentation, not just budget. Performances are as empty as the script, the visuals are terrible, the story is dull, the pacing is bad, the effects are laughable. Even taken in its low budget context the movie can't stand all that tall. Sony's Blu-ray offers passable video, decent audio, and a couple of extras. Skip it.