5.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Through the eyes of Daniel Domscheit-Berg, an early supporter and eventual colleague of Julian Assange, the film follows the heady, early days of Wikileaks to its abrupt end after a series of controversial and history changing info leaks. The website's overnight success brought instant fame to its principal architects, but as their power expanded across the globe, Daniel grew increasingly disillusioned with Julian's questionable tactics and ethics. The rift between the two friends became irreparable and their ideological differences tore them apart, but not before they revolutionized, for better and worse, the flow of information to news media and the world at large.
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Alicia Vikander, Carice van Houten, Daniel Brühl, Laura LinneyDrama | 100% |
Biography | 92% |
Crime | 29% |
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
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
Digital copy (as download)
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region free
Movie | 2.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.0 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
Bill Condon's The Fifth Estate is a strangely groggy, awkwardly generic Julian Assange biopic; a made-for-TV-quality misfire with aspirations of Social Network greatness destined instead to share bargain bin real estate with the likes of Dominic Sena's Swordfish and Peter Howitt's Antitrust. Benedict Cumberbatch is miscast as a stringy haired, marble mouthed Assange... or perhaps just underutilized, mismanaged or the victim of indecisive editing. (Cumberbatch isn't sure who Assange is, having admittedly changed his position on the WikiLeaks founder numerous times over the course of the production. But Assange knows who Assange is; a conflict between character and actor that leads to an uncharacteristically discordant performance from the typically reliable Cumberbatch.) Either way, discredit where discredit's due: Josh Singer's sporadic screenplay and Condon's uncertain direction. The Fifth Estate isn't sure what it wants to be, much less who it wants to focus on or how it wants to hack its way through its hydra-headed story. By film's end, Condon and company shrug their shoulders, extend their middle fingers at an already beleaguered audience and hide behind a faux interview with Assange, who says "if you want to know the truth, no one is going to tell you the truth. They're only going to tell you their version. If you want the truth, you have to seek it out for yourself." Ironically a send-off that undermines and diminishes the film and its portrayal of the WikiLeaks founder in one fell swoop.
"You can't go far in this world by relying on people. People are loyal until it seems opportune not to be."
The Fifth Estate features a fit and faithful 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation that rarely stumbles. Color and contrast are generally natural and lifelike, albeit with the occasional palette hack (teals and icy blues are popular) or stylistic tweak. Primaries are restrained but arresting too, black levels are deep and satisfying, and delineation is excellent. And detail? Edges are crisp and clean (with only a hint of intermittent ringing) and textures are revealing and well-resolved. Softness is apparent from time to time -- particularly during scenes that take place in the infinite offices of the WikiLeaks' artificial reality -- but only insofar as Tobias Schliessler's cinematography and the FX team's work dictates. A fine veneer of grain is present as well, while errant noise, artifacting, aliasing and banding are nowhere to be found. All told, it's a terrific presentation sure to please anyone who warms to the film.
Disney's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track is competent and capable, without any real issues to point to. Dialogue is clear, intelligible and neatly prioritized, and effects are clean and convincingly grounded in the mix. LFE output is solid, lending support whenever and wherever it's needed, and rear speaker activity is assertive and, at times, quite engaging. Directionality leaves a bit to be desired, but pans are smooth and the soundfield is suitably immersive, with believably busy city streets, crowded bars, bustling government offices, cramped apartments, hushed auditoriums and scrambling Guardian news floors. Dynamics are rewarding as well, and the entire track does a fine job with the by-the-basics sound design it's handed.
The Fifth Estate suffers with scattershot direction, slippery scripting and hit or miss casting, with Cumberbatch doing his best but succumbing to a mediocre screenplay and Condon's wishy washy vision. There are moments where Estate shows tremendous promise, but they're sadly few and far between. Disney's Blu-ray release is much better, with an excellent video presentation, strong DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track and a decent (albeit short) supplemental package. There's potential for a sharper WikiLeaks film buried deep within The Fifth Estate. But with Assange's 15-minutes of fame fading fast, the question is whether anyone will care to watch the next Assange biopic if one is even greenlit.
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