Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The 355 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 28, 2022

The 355 currently heads the pack to be nominated for, and win, the award most bland, generic, and inconsequential film of the year. Here's a picture with a decidedly stellar cast but a decidedly not-so-stellar story. Here's a film with decent choreography but underwhelming characterization. Here's a film that runs two hours long yet has not even two seconds of originality to it. Here's a film that just can't excite any part of the movie watching senses. Director Simon Kinberg (Dark Phoenix), who co-wrote the screenplay with Theresa Rebeck (Harriet the Spy), sputters about as he tries to mask the film's narrative, character, and structural shortcomings with action, which never differentiates itself from so many other likeminded pictures. In short: this is an entirely passable time waster, but audiences shouldn't expect it to rock their world, engage their brain, or stir their movie watching response in any way, shape, or form.

A Colombian drug cartel has developed a bit of world-changing technology that, in the wrong hands, could be used to control every electronic in the world, putting aviation, communication, military, and other high value infrastructures at grave risk. The device winds up in the wild and the chase is on to retrieve it. Amongst the pursuers are CIA agent Mason Browne (Jessica Chastain), DNI agent Graciela Rivera (Penélope Cruz), MSS agent Lin Mi Sheng (Fan Bingbing), and German BND agent Marie Schmidt (Diane Kruger). To help in the fight, Browne enlists the help of an old friend and expert in digital security, Khadijah Adiyeme (Lupita Nyong'o). As the chase commences, the stakes become ever higher, and more deadly.

With The 355, there is no sense of draw into the story. It’s a very detached experience; it plays on the screen, the audience sits in a seat, and they’re likely to grow very antsy as the film refuses to find any reason to care about the story. It’s so rote that the film just becomes a jumble of faces attached to bodies holding guns and shooting at one another, with the boringly obligatory chase scenes through various exotic locales. It’s sort of like a Bond or a Bourne movie but without the character might and serious technical muscle to back it up. The film absolutely fails in building the former and only manages a respectable approximation of the latter. The super powerful, super scary device is a dictionary definition of a MacGuffin, and there's no reason to care to whom the device falls and what the various individuals and groups will do to retrieve it.

The film appears to be only concerned that it is gals, not guys, running around and shooting at one another. The cast does do a fine job of filling otherwise empty shoes, but even actors of this caliber -- Chastain, Nyong'o, Kruger, and Cruz -- can only accomplish so much with a scrip that offers them so little in terms of serious dramatic currents. They exist to pursue the MacGuffin, no more and no less. The film takes a stab at motivational characterization when Browne's partner-slash-boyfriend is killed in the line of duty, but his death fades into the monotone merry go round as the rest of the picture gets underway. Plot developments and advancements illicit no excitement; the film is simply satisfied to bank on regurgitated content with new faces taking center stage to tired and rote result.

The 355 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is a topflight 1080p transfer from Universal. The film was digitally sourced, and the resultant picture is remarkably clean, colorful, and efficient, pushing the Blu-ray format to its very limits. The image sparkles with unmatched clarity and definition, showcasing wonderful facial textures which reveal lines, pores, and scruff with precision definition. Clothes are razor sharp as well; military type uniforms seen in the opening moments in Bogota enjoy tactile definition that reaches high-definition zenith in close-up. Every shot is beyond clear, every detail is perfectly revealed; the picture could not be sharper, cleaner, and more stable at 1080p. Colors are rich and vivid; everything from hair, eyes, clothes, and location details pop with expressive color depth, all of them dialed into a very neutral temperature and natural contrast. Whites are beautiful, blacks are perfect, and the image suffers from no discernible source shortcomings, like noise, and no encode blemishes, like macroblocking. Blu-ray does not get any better than this.

The 355 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Like the astonishing video presentation, this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is a wonderful example of modern audio engineering. The presentation plays as big as the configuration allows, offering swarming sound effects that engage throughout the stage in precision harmony. Gunfire in the opening minutes is rich and impactful with hard-hitting depth and plenty of surround information for both point of origin and point of impact. Certainly, this description holds through the many examples of gunplay throughout the film. Chase scenes, too, spring to life with chaotic din and full surround activity to draw the listener into the moment. Musical definition is superior as well, playing with remarkable lifelike orchestral clarity. Width is wonderful, too, and surround engagement is very well balanced in support of music. The subwoofer chimes in to add critical depth to music, as well as action, and proves to be the final finishing touch on every bit of high yield sonic activity. Lesser sonic elements, like crowd din and other ambient effects, are perfectly balanced within the larger whole. Finally, dialogue is clear and balanced as it plays from a stable front-center location.

The 355 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of The 355 contains five featurettes and deleted scenes. A DVD copy of the film and a Movies Anywhere digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with an embossed slipcover.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 6:20): No identifying markers are included.
• Chasing Through Paris (1080p, 4:58): Looking at the film's worldwide locations with emphasis on Paris and making the action that takes place therein, including stunts and photography.
• Action That Hurts (1080p, 5:27): The cast's fighting prep and stunt work, locations and support elements, weapons, and more.
• Reconstructing Marrakesh (1080p, 5:34): Focusing on the Moroccan set, which was built on a studio lot. It looks at authenticity, set decoration, costumes, and more.
• Chaos at the City of Dreams (1080p, 3:51): The film's focus on characterization and how that increases the intensity of the action scenes. This piece primarily looks at making one of the film's biggest action scenes.
• VFX Breakdowns (1080p): Exploring some of the digital layers that bring the movie's computer visuals to life. Included are Part 1 (2:12) and Part 2 (2:45).

The 355 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Worse films than The 355 have been released in the last year, but few, if any, prove so inconsequentially dull and rote. Despite a solid cast, the film lives only to regurgitate content done countless times before, and often better, with no discernible reason to exist. It brings nothing new to the genre and offers zero reason for audiences to buy a ticket, never mind care or become involved in the trite story advanced by generic motive and populated with forgettable characters. Universal's Blu-ray does deliver reference video and audio. A few extras are included. Skip it.