Reviewed by Allie Schembra
Witness an epic jailbreak in the gritty, action packed heist film Son of a Gun from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. Starring Ewan McGregor (Star Wars franchise) and rising star Brenton Thwaites (Maleficent), Son of a Gun is the rough and tumble story of an unruly band of master thieves who launch a gold heist that goes terribly wrong. Released theatrically by A24, the Son of a Gun Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively. After breaking out of prison, Brendan Lynch (McGregor), Australia’s most notorious criminal, enlists 19-year-old JR (Thwaites) to accompany him and his crew on a gold heist that promises to deliver millions. However, as things start to go wrong, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues.
Film (3 out of 5 stars)
JR, a 19-year-old criminal enters prison an innocent kid. He meets Brandon Lynch, who is serving a very long term. When Lynch takes JR under his wing, JR is able to survive life on the inside. JR is released from prison after his short sentence and hooks up with Sam, who has a plan for Lynch and JR. After a daring prison escape, Lynch lays out the plan for JR. The plan involves stealing millions of dollars worth of gold from the processing plant.
As the plan comes together and carried out, Lynch and JR realize that Sam has double-crossed them and plan to get their share. They find out that Sam has sent the gold bars to be broken up to Melbourne and with the help of Tasha, one of Sam’s women, they travel to Melbourne and plan on stealing the gold back and enacting their revenge. In what becomes a game of backstabbing and double crossing, JR and Brendan need to trust each other and figure out how to not get caught.
Son of a Gun was a little boring. It wasn’t hard to follow, but it didn’t hold my attention as much as I had hoped it would. I’m a fan of Ewan McGregor and thought he did a good job as Brendan Lynch. Brenton Thwaites was good as JR and he portrayed JR’s innocence really well. The story was interesting, but again, I had hoped for a little more.
Video (3 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Son of a Gun’s 1080p widescreen 2.40:1 aspect ratio is good. Each scene was sharp and clear and the grittiness of many scenes was accurate. Colors were on point and fight and chase scenes were good. The clarity of the picture in one prison scene was so good, I actually gasped at the climax of the scene. It looked realistic and after watching the director’s commentary on the scene, it made me appreciate it even more. The entire picture in Son of a Gun was very good and it was pleasing to watch.
Audio (2 out of 5 stars)
While the volume level of Son of a Gun was uneven, the English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio was good. Explosions and gun shots were much louder than the dialogue and I did have to adjust the sound quite often. The dialogue was clear and easy to understand even with the accents. If desired, English, English SDH and Spanish subtitles are included.
Special Features 2 out of 5 stars
- Audio Commentary with Writer/Director Julius Avery – Director Julius Avery talks about the characters, the actors and why he made the directing decisions he did when making the movie.
- Partners in Crime: The Making of Son of a Gun – A 12 minute behind-the-scenes look at the making of the movie. This includes interviews with the cast and crew.
- Trailers – the trailers from the beginning of the disc.
- Bookmarks – Ughhh, again! What is it about this feature? People must like it if it’s included on every disc.
Summary (2 1/2 out of 5 stars)
Son of a Gun is an “ehh” kind of movie. I liked the idea of the gold heist, the prison “friendship,” the backstabbing and double crossing, but for some reason, it didn’t grab me. I won’t watch the movie again, even as a fan of Ewan McGregor. I was bored and found myself watching the timer to see how much longer there was left in the movie.
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