Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		1.0
Audio		2.0
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.0

The Net 2.0 Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 10, 2021

This Mill Creek Blu-ray release of the terrible 2006 cyber thriller 'The Net 2.0' is currently available in a two-pack with its predecessor-in-name-only, 'The Net.' The Blu-ray presentation is as bad as the movie: there are no extras, the video quality looks like a DVD at best, and the lossless soundtrack is no great shakes.

Hope Cassidy’s (Nikki DeLoach) parents died before they could fulfill their dreams of parenting three daughters (who would have been named Faith and Charity). She’s on her own, now, and works in a field she loves as a gifted cyber security expert. She’s in high demand and earns a high wage for her work. She takes a job in Istanbul, Turkey, to debug and protect a massive digital banking enterprise. When she goes to the American consulate to get a new passport so she can get a work visa, she’s given a passport with the wrong name on it. She quickly realizes that her mistaken identity is not simply the result of a clerical error. Somebody else is impersonating her, nobody believes her to be herself, and she finds herself on the run and ultimately charged with double murder. In a foreign land with no hope and no recourse, she can only rely on her own guile to outwit whoever it is that has erased her from existence.

The movie is awful and a far cry from the vastly superior original which certainly looks dated a quarter-century after its release but it holds up because of a compelling story and a relatable and likeable lead, never mind a few good secondary performances and an obvious sense of cinematic know-how at work in every scene. Here, the movie has been snapped together with a try-hard want for frenetic disorientation that seems to exist to mask the massive list of flaws that pop up elsewhere. Or, it's misguided and flat-out missed stab at cinematographic creativity. A boring story, terrible editing, a poor script, and lousy acting leave this a far cry from the superior original. It’s nearly unwatchable.

The Net 2.0 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Mill Creek brings The Net 2.0 to Blu-ray for its not-long-awaited debut with a miserable 1080p transfer. Right from the Sony logo the image looks awful. Compression artifacts abound and the logo is soft, dull, and devoid of even basic vibrancy, never mind the visual acumen from real Sony discs. This is, like Mill Creek's The Net, with which this film shares a disc, is a poor image, defined by heavy compression artifacts, bland colors, and flat detail. IMDB doesn't state whether this was shot on film or on video, and it really doesn't matter considering how crummy the movie looks, anyway. The compression artifacts mentioned above are more than an eyesore. They're picture-destroying irregularities that leave not just backgrounds, but often human faces, appearing on the verge of digital collapse. It's just awful. There are no fine textures to be found. Everything is bland, boring, and visually unappealing. Colors are poor, too. There's no depth, no brilliance, and even the most would-be intense reds and natural greens struggle to offer both boldness and tonal nuance. Skin tones are pasty and ugly and black levels are murky and unprofessional. This is one terrible looking Blu-ray; it doesn't help that the movie's innate aesthetics are horrible to boot, and add in a horrid picture quality and this one is tough to watch.

The Net 2.0 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek casts The Net 2.0 onto Bu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. This is the presentation's "highlight" by default; with a lousy movie, terrible picture quality, and no extras it more or less stands out for not being completely terrible. The track is fine, in general, certainly lacking serious stage presence, depth, or atmospheric nuance, but essentials like musical fidelity and front-end spacing are OK. Atmosphere is not at all rich but the track does a serviceable job of plopping various city exteriors into the stage to offer a crude sonic recreation. A few of the more "robust" effects fail to offer superior definition, distinction, or dominance but do convey enough of the essentials to satisfy base requirements. Dialogue is at lest clear enough and images well to the center. This is a pedestrian track at best.

The Net 2.0 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

No supplements are included.

The Net 2.0 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

It's bad enough that The Net 2.0 is a poor movie trying its best to masquerade as something edgy and purposeful, but add in this terrible Blu-ray presentation and there's virtually no reason to watch. It's a miserable experience start to finish in every way, one of the true slogs and an easy candidate for worst release of 2021. Skip it.