Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

The Rhythm Section Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman May 6, 2020

The Rhythm Section does its best to straddle that fine line between marching to its own beat but also wearing out familiar turf along the way. The story of an average, deeply wounded person seeking violent revenge on those who destroyed her family has been done ad nauseam, and just recently in the so-so Jennifer Garner Action vehicle Peppermint. The story is told again here under the watchful eye of Director Reed Morano (I Think We're Alone Now) working from a script penned in part by Barbara Broccoli who, if that name sounds familiar, is the daughter of longtime James Bond Producer Albert R. Broccoli but who has carved out a name for herself, particularly in recent years with the Daniel Craig Bond films. There are certainly some stylistic similarities between The Rhythm Section and modern Bond, going for grit and depth over flash and style. It's a solid film within its genre but whether it holds much, if any, replay value remains to be seen.

Several years ago, a packed Northeastern Airlines flight exploded over the Atlantic, killing everyone on board, including most of the Patrick family, leaving only Stephanie (Blake Lively) behind. Now, she’s doing drugs and turning tricks to make ends meet and, she hopes, forget her pain. But when she learns from a journalist (Raza Jaffrey) that the bomb maker is in London, freely walking the streets, she decides to seize the opportunity and seek her revenge. She buys a gun, tracks her target, but can’t bring herself to pull the trigger. With her target spooked and in hiding, Stephanie is taken in by a man named Iain (Jude Law) who pushes her hard and trains her in the art of killing. As she focuses her mind, hones her body, and rebuilds her spirit, she evolves into a flawed but capable killer who learns that the harder she pushes herself and the deeper she engages in the underground world that killed her family, the more she comes to realize that the conspiracy runs deeper than a few well-connected terrorists.

Stephanie is a cliché, Iain tells her at one point. The drugs, the prostitution, the down-and-out bottom-of-the-barrel escapes from reality may as well be out of a mourning manual. But the film uses Stephanie’s state to its advantage, not its detriment. Morano and her filmmaking team do a great job of painting the picture of her pain, and Lively certainly digs deep into her soul to inwardly match the frazzled, battered, and bruised exterior. Her performance is spot-on, in terms of emotional detachment and gradual engagement and, certainly, physically as she teeters on death at the beginning and slowly finds enough strength to go about her business of revenge through the movie's bulk. Lively brings a necessary level of depth to the part that exists beyond words on a page. She seems to live her pain and wear it on her sleeve, even as she pushes through her training and tries her hand at the violence that she hopes will bring peace and stability back to her life.

That said, the movie does follow a fairly standard cadence that sees it go through a familiar routine of introducing a broken soul that retakes command of her body with an eye towards vengeance. It’s basic stuff that won’t leave the audience enthralled with any one element but the sum is handled with enough essential emotional draw, performance gusto, and action intensity to overcome the more banal familiarity. The movie isn’t littered with action, instead focused on character presentation and growth -- which remains rough around the edges rather than unbelievably polished -- from which action organically flows rather than vice versa. It’s trite at its core, but the peripherals are strong enough to carry The Rhythm Section to success.

The Rhythm Section Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Rhythm Section's 1080p Blu-ray presentation delivers the digitally sourced photography with all-around visual excellence. Everything is in good working order, presenting the film's varied locations -- run down motel rooms, dense city streets in several countries, more plush penthouses -- with impressive attention to detail that all showcase the film's well-versed production design with very impressive clarity. The photography does sometimes yield softer corners and edges but what's in focus is plenty sharp and revealing. Clothing textures are firm and skin components excel, showing every pore, bruise, and hair on Stephanie's battered body with immaculate clarity. Colors are firm and stable, presenting with a largely neutral contrast that doesn't push the picture too hot or cold. The diversely colored city exteriors are where the image's palette thrives, but natural greens are also in abundance during Stephanie's training sessions with Iain, and those, too, offer spectacular depth and saturation. Black levels are great, vital in the film's many lower light interiors, and skin tones are natural within any given location's lightning specifics. Noise can be seen in lower light shots but rarely to a distracting density. The picture showcases no additional source issues or encode errors. This is a very good all-around, high performing Blu-ray presentation from Paramount.

The Rhythm Section Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Blake isn't the only "Lively" on this disc. The Rhythm Section's DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 lossless soundtrack is itself lively and very sonically satisfying. The track offers plenty of output high points, including thunderous low end outbursts at several key moments. One of the best comes around the 29-minute mark when Stephanie is dragged into a building and first meets Iain, and another later in the film where a bus explodes, filling the stage with concussive shockwaves and flying debris (there's a good little supplement on making it, too). Gunfire tears through the stage in the first major shootout in the film in chapter 12 with very impressive depth, yielding some of the most lifelike shots one will hear in a movie soundtrack. Deep, penetrating, zipping fast, and impacting hard around the listening area, the scene is in full sonic command and is both aural treat and terrifying exercise in soundtrack realism. Music escalates with frequency, too, commanding the stage with deep, detailed output that stretches wide, heavily engages the back channels, and tests the sound systems on several occasions. The track folds in plenty of realistic environmental din as well, such as a busy cafeteria in chapter four or various examples of city street sounds heard throughout the movie across several diverse locales. Dialogue is clear, well prioritized, and center focused for the duration. 7.1 lossless tracks don't get much better than this.

The Rhythm Section Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The Rhythm Section features deleted and extended scenes and several featurettes. A DVD copy of the film and a digital copy code are included with purchase. This release ships with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Deleted and Extended Scenes (1080p, 17:30): Included are Where's His Money, Why Did You Come for Me? Promise, The Bag, This Is Your Funeral, and My Name is Stephanie.
• Stephanie's Journey (1080p, 7:53): A basic look at story and characters through Stephanie's perspective and her transformation along the way. It also explores shooting locales, making key scenes, and more.
• Fight or Flight (1080p, 6:10): A closer look at Lively's physical training, the character's growth in the film, and the "messy" fight and action choreography.
• Never Leave Second Gear (1080p, 611): Crafting a complex car chase sequence.
• One Shot Explosion (1080p, 2:18): Blowing up a bus for a key shot in the third act.
• Designing The Rhythm Section (1080p, 2:38): Shooting locales, lighting challenges, set decoration, and more.

The Rhythm Section Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The Rhythm Section doesn't push boundaries or tell a particularly interesting tale, but there's enough gritty realism, thanks in large part to Blake Lively's internally and externally committed performance, to carry the movie to success. Paramount's Blu-ray is likewise quite good, featuring high yield video, reference audio, and a good smattering of extra content. Recommended.