Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates [Blu-Ray] 
Director: Jake Szymanski
Cast: Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Adam Devine,
Release Date: September 27, 2016
A Review By: Kevin Lovell
Film Rating: 5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
Synopsis:
You are cordially invited to the comedy event of the year! In order to avoid embarrassing their family, hard-partying brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) place an online ad to find “respectable” dates for their sister’s Hawaiian wedding. Instead, the boys find themselves out-hustled by an uncontrollable duo (Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza). Based on hilarious true events, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is the perfect marriage of over-the-top humor and outrageous fun!
Loosely inspired by real events, ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ tells the story of two lovably immature and unintentionally destructive party loving brothers Mike (Devine) and Dave (Efron) Stangle who after ruining a few too many family events have been forced to find respectable dates to accompany them to the wedding of their sister in Hawaii. Intending to keep their promise to do just that, the two promptly place an online add inquiring for two such girls, only to by happenstance catch the attention of two equally disruptive and booze loving party girls named Alice (Kendrick) and Tatiana (Plaza) who trick the brothers into bringing them along for what they believe will be a free vacation to Hawaii. Now, as the family gather and all of these unique individuals are forced to share such a notable amount of time together, the hilarious mishaps begin to fly and things quickly get out of hand, leading to a wedding party none of them are likely to soon forget.
Directed by Jake Szymanski from a script by duo Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brien (Neighbors), Szymanski does a competent job at the helm of ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ which also marks his feature length film directorial debut, always guiding everything along more than capably. The film surely owes the largest chunk of credit to the talented and hilarious individuals who comprise the cast and manage to really help keep the film enjoyable including Zac Efron (Neighbors), Adam Devine (TV’s Workaholics), Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect), Aubrey Plaza (TV’s Parks and Recreation), Stephen Root (Office Space), and a number more.
‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ is an extremely average comedy, that while by no means outright terrible nonetheless lacks anything notable within and delivers a fairly unimpressive and at times painfully generic comedy formula that never manages to venture from the familiar course we’ve seen in a plethora of other movies, playing out in a predictive and familiar manner from start to finish. The film may be severely lacking in the originality department, although that’s not to say it isn’t equally entertaining. Even while lacking in many areas, the talented cast including Zac Efron and Adam Devine in the lead roles (both always tend to be a pleasure to watch) result in the movie still delivering an enjoyable and at times notably hilarious comedy that should keep folks thoroughly entertained at the very least and is certain to provide a number of chuckles and even some solid belly laughs along its course. Anyone who enjoys similar raunchy comedies whose main goal is often to outdo itself in the level of vulgarity will likely want to give this one a shot, and it would also make a solid selection for a random evening viewing should you come across it, although it’s probably not necessary to rush out and acquire a copy immediately unless you’re a huge fan of the key cast or in the mood for a simple and thoughtless comedy that doesn’t require your full attention.
Overall, ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ is a relatively unimpressive comedy and about as generic and predictable as they tend to come. Fortunately the film also provides an enjoyable and often hilarious ride if you can simply disregard the familiar pattern we’ve witnessed so many times previously. The amusing pairing of Zac Efron and Adam Devine also does wonders for the film and the two (along with the other key cast members) help to keep it afloat and at least provide an amusing and enjoyable comedy that many will surely still enjoy; I definitely found it to be an enjoyable flick with a number of worthwhile laughs myself, even with its share of faults and lack of originality.
VIDEO:
The Blu-ray release of ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation utilizing the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks wonderful as a whole and delivers a consistently sharp, detailed and vibrant presentation that suffers no notable faults throughout. It holds up splendidly even during the darkly lit and/or heavily populated sequences and never results in anything occurring on screen to ever become negatively affected, let alone rendered indiscernible. Overall, this is a fantastic high definition video presentation that should easily please.
AUDIO:
The Blu-ray release features a lossless 7.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This lossless multichannel soundtrack provides a clean, crisp and discrete audio presentation from start to finish. While not overly aggressive, it nonetheless utilizes all seven available channels quite regularly in order to contribute subtle surround additions including crowd chatter and more, along with some more notable auditory effects making their way throughout the various speakers in a few scenes, yet always making certain that any dialogue which may be occurring simultaneously remains clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a solid 7.1 channel DTS-HD MA soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and shouldn’t disappoint.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The Blu-ray release of ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ includes a number of humorous extras. Included on the release is an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Jake Szymanski’, in addition to a number of ‘Deleted Scenes’ (running approximately 24 minutes in length combined), and ‘Extended Scenes’ (running approximately 39 minutes altogether) from the film, along with even more deleted content in an ‘Alternate Storyline Pig Sequence’ (approximately 8 minutes). We are also treated to some other hilarious videos including: ‘Bits on Bits on Bits’ (approximately 6 minutes), ‘Line-O-Rama’ (10 minutes), a ‘Gag Reel’ (5 minutes), and a few ‘Funny Or Die Shorts’ (approximately 7 minutes altogether). A still image ‘Gallery’ and ‘2 Theatrical Trailers’ (5 minutes total) 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: 5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10
‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ is Now Available to Own on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD from 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
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