Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		2.5

Diablo Blu-ray Movie Review

The Man With *That* Name.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 26, 2021

When you grow up with a surname like Eastwood, your fate is either sealed or a burden, and perhaps both simultaneously. Clint Eastwood's bona fides in the western film idiom are so totemic that it might seem like a fool's errand for his son Scott to attempt something in the same vein, and some viewers of Diablo may well come to the conclusion that even divorced from his famous moniker, Scott Eastwood might have been at least a tad foolish to have agreed to star in this film. The story here is probably both trite and muddled, but aside from Eastwood's Clint-ish visage, which may in and of itself provide a bit of allure for some fans, there's one undeniable positive that Diablo offers: some truly stunning cinematography by the venerable Dean Cundey of the kind of gorgeous and awe inspiring vistas that might be featured in one of those old "aerial tour" videos that niche labels like Topics Entertainment used to release like Over America. On the negative side, a side which frankly may outweigh the plus elements for many viewers, Diablo wants to be a bit of a "mind bending odyssey", but structurally it doesn't have the wherewithal to play its cards close to its vest.

Diablo initially seems to be a fairly traditional revenge drama, albeit with a potent dose of post traumatic stress disorder added for good (?) measure. Jackson (Scott Eastwood) is a Civil War vet who is obviously scarred by his memories, but there are more pressing problems at hand when a bunch of bad guys set fire to his homestead and kidnap his wife Alexsandra (Camilla Belle). When Jackson takes off in pursuit of the villains to rescue his spouse, the film opens up, both literally and figuratively, offering one jaw dropping location after another, as Jackson begins interacting with a variety of characters who are fanciful at best and confounding at worst. There seems to be an undeniable allegorical subtext at play almost from the get go, but writer Carlos De Los Rios and director Lawrence Roeck just don't seem to know how to shape the material, and they certainly aren't able to keep from telegraphing what is evidently supposed to an M. Night Shyamalan sized "twist" as things wend their way uncertainly toward the third act.

There are a number of rather interesting supporting performances in Diablo, chief among them Danny Glover as Benjamin Carver, a war buddy of Jackson's, and probably most especially Walton Goggins as Ezra, a nasty "man in black" whose relentless killing sprees do little to hide the fact that he's obviously some kind of symbol. The film kind of literally and figuratively wanders to and fro as Jackson pursues his quest, with a "reveal" that wants to put everything that has gone before into new perspective, but which may well just end up engendering a hearty "really?" from some viewers.

And yet, there's still the visual element, which proves again what a major artist Dean Cundey is. Working with Arri Alexas (according to the IMDb), which frankly are not always my favorite digital capture technology (as I've discussed in many previous reviews), Cundey manages to invest the film with the kind of grandeur that used to be part and parcel of the western idiom. I have often commented how I find Arri Alexas to not always offer consistent shadow detail in darker scenes, and have referred to what I call "digital murk" at times, but Diablo, despite quite a few dimly lit sequences, more often than not offers rather surprisingly nuanced detail levels. I'm frankly kind of amazed that Cundey's work on this film wasn't better recognized at the time of its release, for I personally found it kind of breathtaking a lot of time. Cundey, along with inveterate scene stealer Walton Goggins, may be the real reason(s) to watch Diablo, though the story never totally registers and Eastwood, despite his iconic name and chiseled good looks, is almost shockingly bland in the central role.

Note: My colleague Brian Orndorf was even less enamored of Diablo than I was. You can read Brian's thoughts on the film here.

Diablo Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Diablo is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Momentum Pictures with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. As mentioned above, the IMDb lists Arri Alexas as having been utilized, though it omits any data points on the DI, which, as usual, I'm assuming was finished at 2K. Whatever deficits the actual film may have, the visuals are frequently incredibly striking, and this Blu-ray presentation offers generally excellent detail levels throughout, irrespective of various "seasonal" changes or even some grading choices. In the grading department, there's just a very slight skewing toward blue-green or teal tones, but kind of remarkably, while stylized, the palette looks relatively normal and is more often than not really beautifully suffused. While fine detail is often exceptional in close-ups, offering precise looks at a number of grizzled faces, it may well be the many wide shots that are most memorable, with Cundey offering a rather amazing assortment of the natural world that Jackson passes through on his journey.

Diablo Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Diablo features an intermittently evocative DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track that makes the most of the frequent outdoor material, utilizing the side and rear channels to establish spatial relationships while also presenting nicely nuanced ambient environmental sounds. The score by Timothy Williams may not be especially innovative, but it sounds full bodied and also spreads through the surround channels quite winningly. Dialogue (such as it is) is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout this problem free presentation. Optional English subtitles are available.

Diablo Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Making Of Featurette (HD; 15:09) is a standard issue EPK with interviews, behind the scenes footage (some with timecode captions) and snippets from the film.


• Trailer (HD; 1:51)

Diablo Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I've been trying to think of another film that had such issues with its narrative that also featured such gobsmacking cinematography, and I have to say I've had a hard time coming up with another relevant example. There's a lot to like about Diablo, no doubt, but the film probably offers its supposedly shocking twist too early for its own good, and Eastwood simply doesn't have the gravitas (yet, anyway) that his famous father has. Still, there's Cundey's absolutely stunning cinematography, and that in and of itself may be enough to make the film enjoyable for some fans. Technical merits are solid for those who are considering a purchase.