Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Kicks Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman November 26, 2016

While mainstream Hollywood's moved in a largely formulaic direction that does still produce some good and truly great movies, the sense of unoriginality and absentee realism has become more and more apparent with the release of every new repetitive doldrum of a movie like Jason Bourne. Nowadays, some movie fans might look to more under-the-radar or independent movies for something better than the all flash, no substance movies that seem so prolific anymore. Director Justin Tipping's Kicks is a breath of fresh air in the suffocating mist (and midst) of today's blockbusters, a film that's intimately real, built on a simple idea, and explores big dreams, wants, needs, interpersonal relationships, and the gritty day-to-day truths of life in poverty and around the challenges of the big, scary world that makes everything all that much more difficult.

Young Brandon (Jahking Guillory) lives in poverty in Richmond, California. He has two dreams in life. One is to escape from the realities of the world around him -- the bullying, the noise -- by living in outer space. Short of that, his other dream is to acquire a new pair of Nike Air Jordan shoes, the kind that command respect on the street and some comfort for his feet. He's friends with Rico (Christopher Meyer) and Albert (Christopher Jordan Wallace). One day, Brandon scrapes together his saved pennies and cash given to him from various occasions and purchases his dream shoes from a street merchant selling out of the back of a van. No sooner does he acquire them, they're stolen from him. With no shoes, no money, and only his dignity and his property to salvage, Brandon sets out to reacquire what is rightfully his, even at risk to his very life.

Kicks is fresh and honest, a movie that shies away from the spectacular and repetitive and strives to only tell an intimate story that's less concerned with flash and more concerned with exploring, for one young man, life's most complex in-the-moment realities. Built around dreams, successes, failures, hopes, wants, and the best and worst life has to offer in its interconnectedness and the yearn to escape from it, Kicks finds balance in both its largely relatable internals and its relatable and non-relatable externalities. Brandon isn't a hero, and he isn't a villain. He's a kid who wants to fit in but, at the same time, escape from the ills of the world around him. He dreams of escaping to outer space where he can't hear the frenzied world around him. Still, it's something of a paradox that the film explores through some refined and enticing imagery of the imaginary astronaut that accompanies Brandon at several key moments throughout the movie. It would be to spoil the movie to reveal how that imagery plays out, particularly in the closing minutes, but it's smartly utilized for visual, emotional, and thematic impact alike.

The movie does slow down a bit in its middle stretch, building up some necessary character development but occasionally feeling like it's padding the runtime rather than enhancing the narrative. The movie would have worked better with a simpler two-act structure, at least as it's worked and presented in its finished form, but there's otherwise little room for complaint. Performances are impressively real. None of the primary cast looks our sounds like they're forcing an issue or fighting through something to which they cannot relate. Performances are natural and compelling, particularly from Jahking Guillory and Mahershala Ali. Their ability to not only convey, but seemingly feel, the gamut of emotional and physical content throughout the movie is superb. From the top-down, the entire movie is well-versed in its world and exploring the human intricacies of a simple story made bigger by the interferences of the world around it.

Kicks Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kicks was digitally photographed and presents on Blu-ray with a fairly smooth, but not flat or glossy, 1080p transfer. The image boasts terrific texturing on clothes, where some of the thicker attire shows plenty of finer point material detailing. Many of the urban areas around the movie reveal plenty of textural character that's practically tactile. Clarity is constant and never does the image appear prone to smudginess around the edges. Color saturation is true, with the red sneakers, a colorful Nerf gun, and other elements around the frame all holding up with just the right level of realistic vibrance. Black levels are appropriately deep and flesh tones appear true. Minor aliasing is evident on a few overhead shots but never interferes where it counts. No other problematic source or encode issues are evident, save for a slight sprinkling of occasional noise.

Kicks Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kicks features a good all-around DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. Music is well spaced, full-bodied, and clearly detailed. Whether Hip-Hop style tunes or Techno/Electronic sort of score, both front-end width and clarity are excellent. Surrounds aren't engaged to any sort of serious, full-on extent. A few gunshots present with suitable weight and aggression. Light background ambient effects are in play just enough to better define the movie's environments. Dialogue dominates most of the movie, and it plays with commendably balanced front-center placement and always-on prioritization.

Kicks Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Kicks contains two brief supplements and a voucher for a UV/iTunes digital copy is included with purchase.

• Kicks: One on One (1080p, 2:31): Key cast discuss the plot.
• Photo Gallery (1080p, 3:28): Several stills appear and automatically advance forward. No audio is present.

Kicks Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kicks is a quality little movie, one that's much more compelling and watchable than much of the deluge of unimaginative drivel leaking out of Hollywood these days. It's better because it's real, and even if the audience cannot relate to it, the feel of authenticity, simplicity of story, complexity of emotion and imagery, great performances, and knowing filmmaking make this a movie that's so much better, and in so many ways, than other films that earn much more attention, praise, and money. Universal's Blu-ray is disappointingly short on extra content but it does boast good video and audio. Highly recommended.