6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Antonio's parents were murdered when he was a child. As an adult, he is transformed into a relentless bounty hunter.
Starring: Marko Zaror, Celine Reymond, Alejandro CastilloForeign | 100% |
Martial arts | 98% |
Action | 47% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.36:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Spanish: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
English, English SDH
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (locked)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Between Grindhouse and Machete, Hobo with a Shotgun and Hell Ride--and many, many more--we've been
inundated lately with nostalgic-for-the-'70s exploitation throw-back films. Many of them even attempt to look like they were made during the
Ford and Carter administrations, with digitally inserted scratches and jitters and light leaks. The fakery extends to purposefully stilted acting,
intentionally ridiculous dialogue, and willfully hokey special effects. Some of these have been fun--I won't deny that--but to a one they all feel
disingenuous, inauthentic, winking at the audience from their psychedelic, 1970s typeface-sporting title sequences to their campy freeze-frame
endings.
What was once a sincere underground mode of filmmaking--cheap, dirty, badass--has been commercialized and mass-marketed and turned into a
universally recognized trend. You know the shark has been jumped when big-budget-but-trying-to-look-cheap fauxsploitation films like
Grindhouse spawn actual low-budget imitators like Nude Nuns with Big Guns and Mandrill. The latter comes to us from
Chilean director Ernesto Diaz Espinoza, whose previous films--Kiltro and Mirageman--were some of the first martial arts movies to ever
come out of his home country. For Mandrill, he combines fists-and-feet-of-fury action with a revenge story about a hit-man who--as the film's
tagline proclaims--is "Cooler than Shaft, Hotter than Bond, Faster than Lee." Add some Charles Bronson in there and you have a good summary of the
movie's cinematic influences.
Mandrill, in the hot seat...
Like most of these fake-sploitation films, Mandrill was shot on high definition digital video and then processed to hell and back in post to give it a gritty grindhouse look. No, I don't really get it either, but whatever. The movie's 1080p/AVC-encoded Blu-ray presentation is kind of all over the place, as there are frequent scene-by-scene changes in color palette, noise levels, and clarity. Color swings most widely, veering between the fairly realistic and the intensely super-saturated. Sometimes the image has a deep yellow cast, and elsewhere it takes on a soft aquamarine hue. Contrast is variable too, but most frequently settles into a punchy style with clipped highlights. There's not much consistency, but the image does get progressively more grimy- looking as the film goes on. Intentionally, it seems. By the climactic fight, primaries are pushed to the extreme and the picture is awash in some combination of digitally inserted grain and source noise. There are many shots that reveal extremely fine detail--especially in closeups--but others that look a bit soft. What can I say? The disc seems to represent the source material well, but this is no contender for best-looking Blu-ray of 2012.
The film's Spanish-language DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is more than adequate and certainly listenable, but not quite as punchy as similar action movies. Literally. The foley effects for the punches and kicks are seriously wimpy. In one sense, this is realistic--real fights don't sound like two guys smacking each other with two-by-fours--but it leaves the martial arts sequences sounding a little hollow. The mix is a bit beefier when it comes to gunplay--the shots are crisp and loud--and the rear channels are occasionally put to good use for music, ambience, and directional effects. Nothing overwhelming or particularly immersive, but at least some thought has been put into the sound design. Dialogue is almost always clear, easy to understand, and balanced at the top of the mix. The disc includes optional English and English SDH subtitles, along with a corny DTS-HD MA 5.1 English dub.
Mandrill is a fun but inconsequential fake-sploitation film that--it seems to me--would play best with an audience of likeminded, mildly inebriated martial arts fans. The story and wanna-be vintage aesthetic flourishes are old-hat by now, but there are at least a few decent action scenes here. And while I can't say this one's worth a purchase, it might make an okay rental for an evening in with friends. Just don't get your hopes up for something truly spectacular.
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