Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.
Pick of the Week: “Jurassic World: Rebirth”
The “Jurassic World” series may have reached its natural conclusion with 2022’s “Dominion,” but Universal was never going to get rid of its golden goose. Fortunately, the latest installment in the long-running franchise is a completely standalone adventure with a brand-new set of characters (and dinosaur toys to sell to kids) that requires only a cursory understanding of the previous films. Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali are excellent additions to the franchise, while director Gareth Edwards delivers all the spectacle and top-notch visual effects that fans have come to expect. The family subplot isn’t as engaging as the main storyline, and the mutant dinos are pretty dumb (especially with so many cool real-life species yet to be explored), but as a soft relaunch of the franchise, “Rebirth” is a perfectly enjoyable adventure film that delivers exactly what audiences want in a “Jurassic” movie.
Extras include two audio commentaries by Edwards and his crew (the first with production designer James Cylne and first assistant director Jack Ravenscroft, and the second with editor Jabez Olssen and visual effects supervisor David Vickey), as well as a behind-the-scenes look at making the film, deleted scenes, a gag reel and much more. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Also Out This Week:
“Elio” — “Elio” is Pixar’s worst-performing movie outside of their COVID-era films, but that’s not at all surprising because it’s a forgettable space adventure that feels incredibly generic compared to the studio’s usual output. Though some have blamed Disney for failing to properly promote the film, it’s likely that they knew they had a dud on their hands and just decided to cut their losses, much like Disney’s own “Strange World” a few years ago. It certainly doesn’t help that the main character isn’t very likable; he’s basically a boy version of Lilo without the cute factor, which makes the story a bit of a drag to sit through, as he’s borderline insufferable at times. “Elio” reportedly underwent major changes following a disastrous test screening, but it doesn’t appear to have actually fixed anything, resulting in a movie that is so devoid of creativity and personality that it no longer feels like a Pixar film. Extras include a making-of featurette, a drawing tutorial with lead story artist Nicolle Castro, deleted scenes, a gag reel and more. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
“Bride Wars” — Rebel Wilson’s career has taken a nose-dive since the last “Pitch Perfect” movie, so I wasn’t expecting much from her newest film, but “Bride Hard” is somehow even worse than you could imagine. This is bottom-of-the-barrel stuff — an action-comedy so awful that it can’t even muster a single laugh over the course of its 105-minute runtime. The only funny thing about the movie is just how embarrassingly bad it is, from the lazy script and lame gags to action sequences that are so poorly executed you wouldn’t believe a veteran action director like Simon West (“Con Air”) was behind the camera. “Bride Hard” is easily one of the worst movies in recent memory, led by a horribly miscast Wilson who tries so hard to squeeze laughs out of every moment that you can practically see the desperation on her face. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“The Ritual” — The exorcism subgenre has become so played out that the movies all just sort of bleed together at this point. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all, and “The Ritual” does nothing to change that sentiment. Though it’s supposedly based on a true story — in this case, the 1928 exorcism of Emma Schmidt, which is considered one of the most well-documented cases of demonic possession in American history — it doesn’t make the film’s events any more believable or engaging. In fact, it’s a pretty tepid affair that lacks any real suspense or excitement, plodding through all the usual story beats like a plate of reheated leftovers. You’d think that having actors like Dan Stevens and Al Pacino would at least elevate the material, but they’re helpless due to the mediocre script and poor direction. Extras include a making-of featurette, cast interviews and more. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
