Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on Facebook and Twitter with your friends.
“The Legend of Hercules”
WHAT: When King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins) uncovers the truth about his son, Hercules (Kellan Lutz) – sired by the god Zeus and not himself as originally believed – he sends him off to war in the hopes that he’ll be killed. Instead, Hercules is captured and sold into slavery, where he uses his skills in the arena to win back his freedom and return to Greece to exact revenge.
WHY: The first of two Hercules movies to be released this year, Renny Harlin’s brawn-over-brains rendition of the classic tale makes for pretty miserable viewing. Though there’s plenty to criticize about “The Legend of Hercules,” its fate was sealed long before production, when the film’s writers (four to be exact) decided to ignore everything about their hero’s mythological adventures in favor of making a generic sword-and-sandals movie. It’s essentially a mish-mash of every likeminded film that’s preceded it, with a story that hews dangerously close to “Gladiator” and a visual style ripped straight from Zack Snyder’s “300.” The 3D is also pretty annoying, especially when every other scene is blanketed in confetti and pollen. Who knew that Party City was so popular in Ancient Greece? Unfortunately, that’s just the beginning of its problems. From the dreadful acting, to the laughably bad dialogue, to some cheesy special effects (including an animatronic lion that looks like a stuffed toy), “The Legend of Hercules” is reminiscent of those Asylum-produced B-movies designed to cash in on upcoming Hollywood blockbusters, except those films actually know they’re terrible.
EXTRAS: The Blu-ray includes an audio commentary with director Renny Harlin and star Kellan Lutz, as well as a making-of featurette.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“Labor Day”
WHAT: Set in a quaint New England town during Labor Day weekend in 1987, reclusive single mother Adele (Kate Winslet) and her young son Henry (Gattlin Griffith) are taken hostage by a fugitive named Frank (Josh Brolin), who plans to hide out in their rundown house until he can make a run for it. But as Adele and Henry get to know their new houseguest, it becomes clear that Frank isn’t the dangerous murderer that he’s been made out to be.
WHY: For a moment, it seemed like Jason Reitman could do no wrong, but even the best filmmakers are capable of making bad movies, and though “Labor Day” isn’t a complete failure, it’s the director’s weakest film by a country mile. Based on the 2009 novel by Joyce Maynard, the movie represents a major departure for Reitman, who’s made a name for himself telling stories with a dark comedic bite. That trademark humor isn’t present in “Labor Day,” instead replaced by gooey sentimentalism that you’d be more likely to find in a Nicholas Sparks adaptation. It’s essentially a trashy romance novel disguised as an Oscar prestige movie – the kind of story that sets back feminism several decades by suggesting that a woman could be this helpless without a strong man around the house to take care of her. Though the first act is fairly good, staged more like a kidnapping thriller than a sappy romance, it eventually devolves into a bunch of melodramatic nonsense. It’s hard to imagine how much worse “Labor Day” might have been without Winslet and Brolin in the lead roles, because their performances are the only thing separating this from your average Lifetime movie of the week.
EXTRAS: There’s an audio commentary by writer/director Jason Reitman, a making-of featurette and some deleted scenes.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“Gimme Shelter”
WHAT: Pregnant teenager Agnes “Apple” Bailey (Vanessa Hudgens) leaves her abusive, drug-addicted mother (Rosario Dawson) in order to track down her estranged father (Brendan Fraser). But when she refuses to get rid of the baby at his advice, Apple is taken in by a woman’s shelter dedicated to helping young mothers-to-be.
WHY: Based on a composite of several real-life women to come through the doors of the Several Sources Shelters run by Kathy DiFiore (played in the film by Ann Dowd), “Gimme Shelter” had the potential to be much better than this heavy-handed afterschool special. Though it’s great to see Vanessa Hudgens continuing to push herself with challenging roles, her one-note performance (all anger and no nuance) doesn’t change the uncertainty regarding her abilities as an actress. The rest of the cast is wasted in underwritten parts, especially Brendan Fraser as the father looking to make amends, and the aforementioned Dowd, who’s so good in her limited screen time that you wonder why she wasn’t given more to do. In fact, DiFiore’s story is fascinating enough to deserve its own movie, although as my colleague Billy Tatum Jr. suggested in his review, director Ron Kraus would have been better off just shooting the whole thing as a documentary. Hollywood has a tendency to neuter these kinds of stories during the production process, and “Gimme Shelter” is one that would have benefited from the authenticity of its real-life subjects.
EXTRAS: The Blu-ray includes an audio commentary by writer/director Ron Krauss, a making-of featurette and some deleted scenes.
FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
