Mortdecai [Blu-Ray]

Director: David Koepp

Cast: Johnny Depp, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor

Release Date: Now Available on Blu-Ray  & DVD

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

 

Synopsis:

After a priceless painting is stolen, shady art dealer Charlie Mortdecai (Depp) is recruited by an old rival (McGregor) to get it back. Mortdecai questions his rival’s intentions, but takes the job for the money and to keep his high-maintenance wife (Paltrow) happy. With the help of his manservant (Bettany), Mortdecai must face terrorists, angry Russians and more in a hilarious globe-trotting chase.

When a well known art restorer is mysteriously murdered in her home while working on a famous piece, Inspector Martland (McGregor) is brought onto the case. To his dismay, Martland’s only chance of succeeding in solving the murder is by calling in the infamous art dealer and often criminal, Charlie Mortdecai (Depp) to assist. Soon Lord Mortdecai and his accompanying Man Servant Jock (Bettany) are off in search of the lost painting and finding themselves in continually perilous circumstances as they discover that for some strange reason everyone else seems to believe that they are actually in possession of the stolen painting.

David Koepp directed ‘Mortdecai’ (Director of ‘Stir of Echoes’, ‘The Trigger Effect’ and ‘Secret Window’) and he does a pretty decent job at the helm, maintaining a suitably goofy and comic tone throughout that compliments the intentionally silly nature of the story. The cast features a number of talented individuals including Johnny Depp, Ewan McGregor, Gwyneth Paltrow, Paul Bettany , Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum and more, most of whom deliver pretty capable and fitting performances in each of their respective roles, although Paul Bettany stole the show with his hilarious portrayal of Mortdecai’s tough and sex crazed Man Servant Jock.

‘Mortdecai’ is an intentionally silly, over the top comedic caper that exudes a heavy cartoonish vibe, delivering all of the action and violence in an oddly goofy manner which itself is a pretty perfect example of how the film handles itself. I’ve seen a number of reviews and folks who have spoken poorly of the movie so I must admit I went in with reserved expectations and found myself pleasantly surprised and had a great time from start to end. Some of the details regarding the mystery within get a bit confusing at times or feel as if some element is missing, yet if you can allow yourself to simply accept the movie as the goofy and stupidly silly comic caper that it is, I think most folks will pretty thoroughly enjoy themselves. It may not be one of the best films of the year by any means, but ‘Mortdecai’ is some goofy fun that’s well worth a watch.

VIDEO:

The Blu-Ray release of ‘Mortdecai’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.40:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks pretty fantastic as a whole; delivering a sharp and detailed picture throughout with rich, vibrant colors; even the fast moving action- oriented and darker sequences look great and never suffer any notable faults throughout. Overall, this is a top notch high definition video presentation complimented by a very healthy bitrate; it shouldn’t disappoint.

AUDIO:

The Blu-Ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack is quite active and impressive as a whole. It frequently utilizes all seven available channels to immerse the viewer with the movie’s perfectly toned score in addition to numerous other auditory effects, especially during the action and chase scenes, while never causing any dialogue that might be occurring simultaneously to become distorted or inaudible in any way. Overall, just as with the video presentation, this is an impressive 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that should easily please most folks.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-Ray release of ‘Mortdecai’ doesn’t include a great deal in the way of bonus content, although it does include a couple of Behind the Scenes Featurette’s that explore different aspects of bringing the movie to life. The first Featurette titled ‘Stolen Moments: On the Set of Mortdecai’ runs approximately 16 minutes in length and includes behind the scenes footage and interviews with the cast and crew. The second Featurette titled ‘The Art of Noise: Making Music for Mortdecai’ runs approximately 12 minutes in length and features Composer Geoff Zanelli discussing the experience of creating the score for the movie. The Teaser and Theatrical Trailer for the film are also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They additionally will suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

Film Rating: 7/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

‘Mortdecai’ is now available to own on Blu-ray and DVD from Lionsgate Home Entertainment

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