Victim Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Victim Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman September 9, 2014

When Ben Affleck and Matt Damon seemingly burst on the scene out of nowhere as accomplished screenwriters (even if both at least had a few acting credits of note to their names) with Good Will Hunting, one of the things that caught a lot of peoples’ fancies was how the two had captured a certain Bostonian zeitgeist in their tale of an errant genius mentored by a kindly shrink. I don’t have a ton of information on actors and co-writers Ashley Chin and Michael Maris, whose well meaning if cliché ridden Victim attempts to reinvigorate the vaunted British Angry Young Man genre by focusing on a black kid caught between gang life and the hope for something better, so I can’t say definitively whether or not any life experiences played into the somewhat hackneyed formulations on display here.

The film deals with a gang (of opportunity of sorts, but a gang nonetheless) led by well meaning if maladjusted Tyson (Ashley Chin), who utilizes girl gang member Davina (Anna Nightingale) to lure unsuspecting marks to their downfall (consisting of burglary for the most part). When Davina’s better off cousin Tia (Ashley Madekwe) moves in, a burgeoning romance between Tia and Tyson causes Tyson to reevaluate his methods of providing for his little sister and attempting to pay off family debts. But with that often ominous sounding “one last job” being bandied about, there’s a feeling of imminent doom closing in on several characters. Victim is a well meaning, often quite well written, drama that nonetheless is probably too conventional for its own good, despite its grittily contemporary urban London setting. Performances here are top notch for the most part and help to elevate a sometimes predictable screenplay.

Victim Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Victim is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Well Go USA with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Despite being of recent vintage and having been shot digitally, this high definition experience is marred by less than desirable contrast and some really milky blacks, giving a kind of bland overall appearance at times. A lot of the film plays out in shades of grays and browns, and it's not really until the final act that any even relatively vivid colors start intruding, so there's not much "pop" to the visuals here. Close-ups still reveal abundant fine detail, and while not optimal, sharpness and clarity are certainly well above average.

Victim Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Victim's lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is rather boisterous at times, including in some scenes like the big robbery set piece that opens the film. Dialogue is always cleanly presented, even if accents are more than a bit thick at times (included subtitles help to decipher some of what's being said). Fidelity is excellent and dynamic range is also quite wide courtesy of the vivid urban environment and a couple of well done foley effects.

Victim Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Cast Interviews (1080p; 55:08)


• Trailer (1080p; 1:14)

Victim Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Victim engages in some fairly predictable melodrama, but its heart is in the right place, and for those who don't mind an often rote treatment of a story of a gang member trying to break out of a cycle of poverty, the film offers very good performances and a decent examination of some of the socioeconomic milieu that gang members find themselves trapped in and by. Video here isn't optimal, but the audio is fine and Victim comes Recommended.