Rating summary

Movie		4.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		4.0

The Aggression Scale Blu-ray Movie Review

Boys will be boys.

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 2, 2012

Loud and messy.

If The Aggression Scale had taken the advice from Die Hard -- "next time you have the chance to kill someone, don't hesitate" -- there wouldn't be much of a movie. The bad guys would win, or those first few times the good guys got a jump on them, they would be quick to pull the trigger and win. End of story, end of movie. But The Aggression Scale doubles down and, because of a few hesitations, presents audiences with an incredibly tense, fast-paced, and excessively violent look at the Home Invasion genre presented with a twist. The aggressors must face off not against a house full of everyday innocents -- yet even here they are on the surface a newly-minted makeshift family -- who must find their inner animals to survive, but against a teenage boy whose natural aggression instincts are off the charts. He knows survival, tactics, first aid, and how to craft improvised weapons and use his environment to his advantage. Anywhere else he'd be labeled a "nut case," but put him in the right situation -- this situation -- and suddenly the quiet, anger-packed, unrelenting mental case becomes a hero. Four bad guys with shotguns and handguns? Blood everywhere? An impossible situation? For him, it's just the next challenge along his rough and violence-riddled life path.

Aggressive.

All-around bad guy and criminal bossman Mr. Bellavance (Ray Wise) is fresh out of prison with only 48 hours to flee the country. But before he can go, he needs some running around money. Enter his number-one henchman Lloyd (Dana Ashbrook), the man Bellevance has chosen to recover the dough taken from him when he was thrown behind bars. Lloyd is to get the money quickly and brutally, killing all who have crossed Bellavance. When finished, he's to come back with cash in hand and photographic evidence of the done deed. One of the people Lloyd and his three-member hit squad must take down is a seemingly innocent family man by the name of Bill (Boyd Kestner) who has a son named Owen (Ryan Hartwig), a stepdaughter named Lauren (Fabianne Therese), and a new bride by the name of Maggie (Lisa Rotondi). The four are off to the country to escape the stress of the city and, unknown to the rest of the family, for Bill to escape the dangers that are nonetheless in pursuit. When Lloyd and gang make their way to the family's new estate, blood flows but the mission isn't as easy as they had planned. It turns out that the quiet Owen is a hardened troublemaker with a major problem controlling his innate aggression. A youthful expert on hunting, survival, and doing damage to the human body, Owen fights for his life and that of his new sister against four bigger, heavily-armed, and ruthless opponents who want him dead at all costs.

To be sure, the "Home Invasion" and "Get the Boss's Money Back" schticks are old hat, and most such movies nowadays are content to recycle formula and bank on style points to feed audiences a well-wron bill of goods as something new. The Aggression Scale, however, actually is something new, an infusion of styles and classic films reshaped into a thrilling and violent film that puts a new spin on the fight of good versus evil. The lead character -- a young teenage boy -- might be labeled the embodiment of evil. Violent and uncontrollably so, he's been locked away and removed from society, only to be rescued by daddy's newfound money. But with that money comes disaster and an opportunity for the boy to show that aggression and survival skill and attitude and a willingness to perform acts of excess violence aren't all bad if put to proper use in the right situation. The film recalls Home Alone and First Blood both taken to the bloody extreme, the boy booby-trapping his home and the wooded areas around it through sheer know-how, making use of the knowledge gleaned from survival guides and personal experience to get the jump and upper-hand on his would-be killers. But this is no child's play. Imagine Home Alone with great bloodshed, unrelenting violence, and characters who display almost no remorse for their actions -- on either side of the scales of justice -- and see a pretty clear picture of the entertaining, gripping, and fairly original The Aggression Scale.

The Aggression Scale goes off the charts in terms of violence, tension, and style. The picture is incredibly well made, quick on its feet, smooth, unrelentingly violent, and always engaging. The tension comes naturally rather than artificially. The characters are all well-rounded and sufficiently developed. The picture makes everything a conflict, even in those calmer family-time scenes, so the air of disagreement, anger, and imbalance constantly hangs over the movie, whether mere familial arguing in the moving van or when at gunpoint. The acting is uniformly excellent, generally. Fabianne Therese never seems to find her stride, and the parents play it rather straight, but the criminals are all played with a hardened, unrelenting, tough, capable exterior while Ryan Hartwig plays the part of Owen with a tremendously powerful effort. The character's silence is a real asset, but Hartwig's attitude and knowledge are displayed even as he remains speechless. The character's ability to combine skill with confidence is evident in every scene, and the actor's portrayal is uncannily perfect. Dana Ashbrook is fantastic as the lead villain, his character somewhat like Hartwig's in the way he carries him and remains balanced even in the heat of the moment. The other villains just look menacing, and they go about their business of maneuvering through the film with guns at the ready and hungry-for-blood looks on their faces that altogether up the fear factor by several degrees simply by there mere presence.

The Aggression Scale Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Aggression Scale sparkles on Blu-ray. The digital photography looks a hair glossy and a touch flat, but that's the source's nature. It generally excels, though, and the medium's limitations are all but erased once audiences get an idea of the level of detailing and color balance available throughout Anchor Bay's latest transfer. This image is incredibly crisp and very well defined. It's perfectly sharp and detailed from front to back, whether up-close elements or background trees that remain clear and crisp right down to the individual leaf. Those close-ups, however, are the highlight. Complex facial textures, perfectly-defined clothes, amazingly realistic accents inside and out of the house will satisfy even the most demanding videophile. Colors are many, bright, and true. Green grasses, the bright yellow moving truck, blood red, and any number of aggressive shades appear accurate and balanced from start to finish. Black levels are flawless, and flesh tones natural. A trace of aliasing and a hint of banding might be caught by eagle-eyed viewers, but for the most part The Aggression Scale lingers somewhere up near 100.

The Aggression Scale Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The Aggression Scale debuts on Blu-ray with a high quality Dolby TrueHD 5.1 lossless soundtrack. The negatives are relatively few. Bass tends to fall apart and rattle at the very bottom and gunfire lacks a truly authoritative punch, but otherwise this one satisfies in every other area. Music plays sharply and with fine energy and good spacing. Clarity might be just short of perfection, but the presentation should satisfy. Ambience is impressive no matter the sort; whether the rattly interior of a loaded-down moving van driving on back country roads or light exterior atmospherics around the house, the track nicely immerses listeners into the film's few environments. A few intense directional effects create a wider sense of space. Those gunshots aren't puny, but they lack a heavier, more realistic thud, whether indoors or out. Dialogue is smooth, even, and played crisply through the center channel. Altogether, this is a solid, well-built track that serves the movie well.

The Aggression Scale Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

All that's included is The Making of 'The Aggression Scale' (480p, 14:49), a featurette that looks at the film's plot, style, characterization, the qualities cast and crew brought to the film, the process of shooting various scenes, and more. The piece is comprised of raw on-set footage, interview snippets, and clips from the film.

The Aggression Scale Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Aggression Scale is a surprisingly robust, well-made, and highly entertaining violent take on Home Alone. It reshapes the Home Invasion picture and creates a remarkably unique lead character, a crazed and frightening and quiet teenage boy who shows no mercy and displays incredible skill on the field of battle. The movie's pacing is incredible. There's never a dull moment, the action is off-the-charts gruesome, and the performances are excellent. Director Steven C. Miller's picture is one of the surprises of the year. It's taught, enthralling, and relentless. This is one of the top Action films of 2012. Anchor Bay's Blu-ray release of The Aggression Scale is disappointingly short on extras, but the picture and sound qualities are great. Highly recommend.