5.4 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.1 |
A beauty contest winner is forced to work for a crime boss after she witnesses a murder. A remake of the 2011 film, 'Miss Bala.'
Starring: Gina Rodriguez (I), Ismael Cruz Cordova, Aislinn Derbez, Matt Lauria, Damián AlcázarDrama | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
French: Dolby Digital 5.1
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English, English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish, Korean, Mandarin (Simplified), Mandarin (Traditional), Thai
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Digital copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Miss Bala is Hollywood's remake of the 2011 Mexican film of the same name. Quick, guess which version was met with more critical acclaim. This secondhand take on the story of a young woman forced into work for Mexico's notoriously violent drug cartels is directed by Catherine Hardwicke, whom many will recognize as the director of the skateboarding film Lords of Dogtown as well as the smash hit Twilight. Miss Bala struggles to find an identity. It's not convoluted or slow, but it feels inconsequential, bland, recycled. There's a dearth of creativity, an obvious absence of compelling characters, and a decidedly lackluster collection of action scenes. The film ekes out a few quality character beats and cultural insights but generally falls into the trap of playing for its next action scene rather than taking then time to build a case for its existence.
The digitally photographed Miss Bala makes for a healthy, handsome Blu-ray. The image is clean and stable, with noise and banding only minimal concerns, the former barely noticeable beyond extreme lower light shots and the latter fleeting at worst. The presentation yields healthy details all-around, whether considering essential skin textures (pores, moles, facial hair), clothes, or environments, the latter of which reveal plenty of textural character and intricacy along the way. Colors are nicely saturated, enjoying a balanced contrast that neither pushes too warm nor too dull. There's plenty of natural, effortless punch to primaries while earthy supports are grounded and accurate. Skin tones appear true to actor complexions. Black levels are appropriately deep and avoid the appearance of crush. The image is nothing remarkable in 2019, but it's a solid performer that carries the material very well.
Like the 1080p video presentation, Miss Bala's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is fairly standard, which means it's a quality, active, fairly robust listen but that offers nothing new of note for its time. It's appropriately wide, with music engaging fully across the front and offering a welcome and enveloping surround integration as well. Action scenes offer appropriate depth and intensity, with explosions hitting hard, gunfire popping with decent (never spectacular) thump, and chaos emerging from all speakers as the situation demands. Environmental ambience is nicely filling and gently immersive, too, defining each location with impressively precise detail and sound placement. Dialogue is unproblematic in all areas of concern.
This Blu-ray release of Miss Bala contains a commentary, a few featurettes, and deleted and extended scenes. A Movies Anywhere digital copy
code is included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.
Miss Bala is a serviceable, but inconsequential, remake of a superior film. The picture goes nowhere and accomplishes little of dramatic novelty. It's competently assembled and performed but offers little of value beyond its handling of the basics. Sony's Blu-ray is well rounded on the technical side of the ledger, offering high end video and audio presentations as well as a quality assortment of supplemental content. Hunt down a copy of the original instead.
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