Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.0

Kidnap Blu-ray Movie Review

'Kidnap' whisks the viewer away for 80 minutes of simple entertainment.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman October 26, 2017

Kidnap is a movie made for cheap tagline blurbs. "She'll stop at nothing to save her son." "A mother's love knows no bounds." "They kidnaped from the wrong mother." Director Luis Prieto's (Pusher) film is about as straightforward as Action-Thrillers come. It's simple and efficient. There's no clutter, the runtime is very lean, and the movie was seemingly made for little more than the price of a Chrysler minivan, an old Mustang, a black Volvo, cast and crew salaries, and some miscellaneous expenditures. That's not a bad thing. Prieto gets as much out of the simple premise as he can. Sure the film lacks imagination, but as a straightforward, no-frills flick meant to kill about 80 minutes and not redefine the cinema landscape, it accomplishes its job of offering enjoyable escapist entertainment.

Halle Berry plays a single mother raising a grade-school boy named Frankie (Sage Correa). She has a special relationship with her son. The two are inseparable, but a pending divorce and her dead-end waitressing job mean it's increasingly likely that she's going to lose custody of her little angel. But all of that takes a backseat when he turns up missing at a carnival. She frantically searches for him and catches a glimpse of him being forced into a car. She races to her van and engages in a dangerous, high speed pursuit. As she keeps up, the car's occupants threaten the boy and try their hardest to lose her and force her off the road. She encounter obstacles, but as she runs on adrenaline and love, she maintains pace as she desperately tries to find help at high speed.

Kidnap may be the story of a mother in search of her missing son, but the movie has more in common with Steven Spielberg's brilliant early career movie Duel than it does the usual kidnapping sort of movies, like Ransom, in which scenes of tense phone negations, broken-spirited parents in mourning and fear, and frantic police searches with guns drawn make the movie. Add in a little bit of the under-appreciated Kurt Russell open road/missing person's Thriller Breakdown (which desperately needs a Blu-ray release) and get an idea of what Kidnap has to offer. Most of the movie's runtime is spent on the road, with Berry (and it's impossible to remember her character's name; she's defined entirely by action, not by basic character details) in pursuit of that old Mustang. One or two stops are all she makes. The movie is always propelled by its literal forward momentum as the chase ensues on busy freeways and through crowded small town streets. There are no surprises, no major twists or turns, but the film keeps its foot on the pedal, always moving towards its end goal with no filler getting in the way. It does its thing surprisingly well, even if its thing is fairly standard, no-frills moviemaking, storytelling, and character building.

Berry's character maintains her conscience as a human being, stopping to check on innocents hurt along the way, making sure to not just run over wounded people lying in the streets, but she otherwise becomes quickly absorbed in the search, driven by momentum, a primordial instinct propelling her through danger and turning her not into some superwoman but certainly a person whose determination and motherly instincts inject her with enough adrenaline to get through some serious carnage on the road and personal physical abuse along the way. By the time the film reaches its climax, she has been through hell on the road. She's bloodied, her van is lucky to still be drivable, and she has made the pursuit as nobly and intensely as her body and her vehicle, never mind the kidnappers and the other people innocently sharing the road, allow. The movie is grounded in as much believable realism as a movie of this sort allows. Both she and the kidnappers make some boneheaded moves, and hers, at least, can be excused if she's to be believed as a normal person thrust into abnormal circumstances in which split-second decisions can mean the differences between, for her and her son alike, life and death. The movie is also paced at lightning speed. Its total runtime puts it at a super-lean 82 minutes, and between 100 seconds of studio logos to start (certainly not a record but that's nevertheless a lot of pre-film title cards) and credits, the movie runs closer to 75, not much longer than a very long episode of a television show. The movie knows its limits and doesn't waste any time -- not its own, not the audience's -- along the way.

Kidnap Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kidnap was digitally photographed, and the 1080p Blu-ray transfer presents the film well enough. Noise is a near constant companion, rarely presented in any bothersome excess save for a scene in a tunnel where the lighting intensifies the noise significantly to the point that the screen is overwhelmed by it. Otherwise, the image is stable and enjoyable. Details are fair, nothing special in the HD realm but nothing that really disappoints. Facial, clothing, and car details are fine, revealing the basics with little effort. Colors are well saturated, particularly the cars, while surrounding environmental elements such as leaves and other city pieces find enough pop and punch to satisfy. Skin tones appear healthy and black levels in the final act are fine. No major compression or source issues beyond the noise are evident.

Kidnap Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Kidnap features a forceful and exciting DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The film never shies away from presenting various car crashes, crunching metal, and the like with immersive, aggressive push. The listener will feel like he or she is in the van with Halle Berry, desperately weaving through traffic at speed, crashing into other vehicles, or experiencing the rush of a big rig rumbling by. Bass can be extreme but is presented with impressive balance even at serious depth. Shotgun blasts later in the film likewise deliver potent, concussive depth. The din at the carnival to begin is authentic and engaging with full stage saturation. Music is clear and detailed with positive stage envelopment. Dialogue is presented clearly and firmly from the front-center, always well prioritized even through the high-speed chaos.

Kidnap Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Kidnap contains one extra. A Look Inside 'Kidnap' (1080p, 3:13) offers a basic story and character recap. A DVD copy of the film and a UV/iTunes digital copy code are also included with purchase.

Kidnap Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Kidnap is certainly nothing special, but it's fast-paced, efficient, and watchable. Berry delivers a convincing performance as a mother who pushes herself to her limit to retrieve her missing son. It's a straightforward film, with a lot of Duel and maybe a little Breakdown making up its story. This isn't life-changing cinema, but it makes for a lightning-quick passable time killer. Video is adequate, audio can be intense, and one brief throwaway extra is included. Worth a look.