Robert Knepper

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Prison Break: The Final Break’ a Lackluster Epilogue

BrianTT — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 20:24:03 -0600

CHICAGO – Very few shows have plummeted as far from their peak to their ignominious end as did Fox’s once-great “Prison Break”. For proof, look no further than the misguided “Prison Break: The Final Break,” what is essentially a straight-to-DVD epilogue at least here in the United States.

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.0/5.0

“The Final Break” is a film of roughly two-episode length that actually aired overseas but was basically encapsulated in a coda here on the final episode of the show in May. The broadcast finale skipped from the downfall of The Company to reveal that Michael Scofield had died. How did that happen? Find out in “The Final Break,” which, believe it or not, involves one more character going to jail and trying to escape. They sure knew how to beat a dead horse the last few years.

The first season and most of the second were clever thrill rides, a mini-action film every week with enough twists and turns to allow for the necessary quotient of suspension of disbelief. Sure, it was mostly nonsense, but Dominic Purcell and Wentworth Miller worked as square-jawed heroes and the supporting cast was interesting in their own right.

When they started killing off the supporting cast (and then bringing them back from the dead), “Prison Break” jumped the shark. Specifically, when the gang all went back to jail, this time south of the border, for the dirty, dark, uninvolving third season. By the fourth season, when the gang was acting like “Mission: Impossible” spies, the show was spinning out of control.

To that end, it’s somewhat refreshing to see “Prison Break” back to its first-season core - the American prison system.

Prison Break: The Final Break was released on Blu-Ray on July 21st, 2009.
Photo credit: Fox

At the beginning of “The Final Break,” Sara (Sarah Wayne Callies) is arrested for the murder of Christina Scofield during her own wedding reception to Michael (Wentworth Miller). Of course, Sara isn’t even tried before she’s thrown into gen. pop. and before people are trying to kill her. What people? Gretchen (Jodi Lyn O’Keefe), of course, a former villain who happens to be in the same cell block.

When General Krantz (Leon Russom) and T-Bag (Robert Knepper) find out that Sara is being held at - wait for it - the neighboring female prison, they launch their own offensive to try and take down the new wife of their enemy.

With all of these forces working against Sara from the inside and out, Michael and Lincoln (Dominic Purcell) come to the conclusion that there’s only one way to save her life and they’re going to need the help of the over-loyal Sucre (Amaury Nolasco) and a questionable Alexander Mahone (William Fichtner) to get her to safety.

It sounds like enough for a season of material, right? It might have even made a better season than three or four. Crammed into one movie that runs about the length of two episodes? It’s a narrative mess with each twist being pushed on to the next one and the coincidences and cliches coming too quickly to be ignored.

“The Final Break” misses the strength of seasons one and two - the build-up. Watching Michael and Lincoln work their way to safety and trying to escape the law in season two worked when twists came at the end of each episode, allowing viewers to forgive ridiculous plotlines because they just had to see what happened next. “The Final Break” is ALL “what happened next.” Even Purcell and Miller seem tired of playing these characters.

As for bright spots, it is nice to get more closure on characters that we spent four years chasing or running with. The final fates of Michael, T-Bag, and Gretchen should have been more explosive on Fox in the series finale, not on a Blu-Ray released two months later, but I suppose it’s better than nothing.

As for the Blu-Ray release, “The Final Break” feels like as much of an afterthought as the coda that ended the show in the States. These episodes aired overseas, so they might as well put them on Blu-Ray. The transfer is unremarkable at best, looking about as good as an upconverted DVD. It doesn’t even look as crisp as the show did in its Fox HD original broadcast. And special features about the end of the series? Keep looking. All you’ll find are some deleted scenes. After watching the movie itself, you’ll probably agree that there should have been a few more deleted scenes, maybe even a few deleted seasons.

‘Prison Break: The Final Break’ is released by Twentieth Century Fox Home Video and stars by Sarah Wayne Callies, Wentworth Miller, Jodi Lyn O’Keefe, Leon Russom, Robert Knepper, William Fichtner, Dominic Purcell, and Amaury Nolasco. It was written by Nick Santora and Seth Hoffman and directed by Brad Turner. The Blu-Ray and DVD were released on July 21st, 2009. It is not rated.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Blu-Ray Review: ‘Transporter 3’ With Jason Statham Speeds to High-Definition Nowhere

BrianTT — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:26:52 -0600

Blu-Ray Rating: 2.5/5.0

CHICAGO – If you’re a big Jason Statham fan, you can move on to another Blu-Ray review. After the pain inflicted on critics in 2008 with the trifecta of “In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale,” “Death Race,” and “Transporter 3,” you won’t read many kind words about him in this one. Yes, “The Bank Job” almost makes up for it but that film really just further proves that Jason can actually act when he chooses to and makes his films that much more intolerable when he speeds through them like “Transporter 3,” now on Blu-Ray.

The thing that blows me away about “Transporter 3” is the producer’s refusal to do ANYTHING new or interesting. If you’ve seen the first two movies, it’s literally more of the same. It’s like a band who just remixes their own songs and tries to sell it to their fans as something new. Practically anyone who has seen “Transporter” and “Transporter 2” could have written something more creative than “Transporter 3”.

Transporter 3 was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

The critical villain of 2008 returns as Frank Martin, the legendary driver-for-hire. In the third movie, Martin gets stuck in the middle of a plot-hole-riddled scheme to kidnap Valentina (Natalya Rudakova), the daughter of the head of the Environmental Protection Agency Leonid Vasilev (Jeroen Krabbe).

Transporter 3 was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

Both Frank and Valentina are strapped with explosive devices that go boom if they get too far away from Martin’s vehicle and then they are sent on a ridiculous wild goose chase from Marseilles through Stutttgart and Budapest to Odessa on the Black Sea. It’s an interesting travelogue, but a stupid plot.

It turns out that an American (Robert Knepper) is behind the kidnapping because he is trying to get the EPA to allow toxic waste into a foreign harbor. Why the American had to come up with a ridiculously complicated scheme involving Martin and a trick explosive is not very clear. Along the way, the kindly Inspector Tarconi (Francois Berleand, an excellent French actor who actually puts a little effort into his part) tries to save Frank and his package, by which I mean Natalya, of course.

It’s all just a set-up for martial arts choreography by Corey Yuen, ridiculous car chases that are harder to follow than watching someone play a racing game through a dirty window, and a semi-hot Russian girl to flirt with Frank and eventually fall in love. Yawn.

The action in “Transporter 3,” the only reason most people are going to rent or buy it, is all something that you’ve seen before and done better (except for perhaps a car meets train scene at the end of the flick).

Statham is as boring as he was in the first two movies - long gone is the actor who showed actual range in “Bank Job” - and Rudakova is simply awful. She’s so grating and obnoxious that every line of hers brings the film to a halt. I kind of wanted Frank to stop driving and for them to explode just so she would shut up. A scene where she gets high and chatty is among the ten worst of 2008.

Transporter 3 was released on Blu-Ray on March 10th, 2009.
Photo credit: Lionsgate Home Video

Yuen does bring the film to occassional life with a tongue-in-cheek sequence of punches and kicks and the movie is never so bad that it’s offensive (like the other two entries in Statham’s trilogy of 2008 junk). It’s just forgettable.

Action always does well on the home market and Lionsgate knows that “Transporter 3” will be one of their bigger titles of the season, so they treat the film well on Blu-Ray. This is another case where the Blu-Ray treatment of a movie is better than the film itself.

“Transporter 3” is presented in 1080P HD and with a booming English 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio track. The audio is spectacular. These reviews are meant to judge the Blu-Ray, not just the film. A ratings point and a half for the final grade of “Transporter 3” is literally just for the audio track. If you have neighbors that make you angry, turn this one up loud. It’s the only way to watch a movie like it.

A nice collection of special features include “Special Delivery: Transporters in the Real World,” an audio commentary with director Olivier Megaton, “Behind-the-Scenes Bonus Footage: Storyboards - Sets/Production Design - Special FX,” “Making of Transporter 3,” MoLog (a BD-Live functionality that allows users to insert and animate shapes, test, audio, and other graphics right into the film), and a digital copy of the film.

Good video, great audio, and as extensive a collection of special features a fan could possibly ask for. If you like Jason Statham, “Transporter 3” will probably appeal to you. But, then again, if you like Jason Statham you probably haven’t read this far.

‘Transporter 3’ is released by Lionsgate Home Video and stars Jason Statham, Natalya Rudakova, Robert Knepper, Jeroen Krabbe, and Francois Berleand. It was written by Luc Besson & Robert Mark Kamen and directed by Olivier Megaton. It was released on March 10th, 2009. It is rated PG-13.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Content Director
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com

Slideshow: 13-Image Gallery For ‘Transporter 3’ With Jason Statham

BrianTT — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:00:00 -0700

CHICAGO – This 13-image slideshow contains official press images for “Transporter 3,” which stars Jason Statham, Robert Knepper, and Natalya Rudakova from director Olivier Megaton. The film opens on Nov. 26, 2008.

“Transporter 3” features the return of Statham’s Frank Martin, a driver for hire. Frank finds himself pressured into transporting Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of the head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Frank has to deal with deadly Russians, the evil Americans behind the plot, and the general resistance of his kidnapped passenger. The film opens on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008.

You can click “Next” and “Previous” to scan through this slideshow or jump directly to individual photos with the captioned links below. Unless otherwise noted on an individual photo, all photo credits for this slideshow belong to Magali Bragard.

transporter3_1: Jason Statham stars as Frank Martin in Transporter 3.
transporter3_2: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) and Johnson (Robert Knepper) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_3: A scene from Transporter 3, starring Jason Statham as Frank Martin.
transporter3_4: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) and Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_5: Tarconi (Francois Berleand, right) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_6: Jason Statham stars as Frank Martin in Transporter 3.
transporter3_7: A scene from Transporter 3, starring Jason Statham as Frank Martin.
transporter3_8: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_9: Valentina (Natalya Rudakova) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_10: Johnson (Robert Knepper) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_11: Frank Martin (Jason Statham) in Transporter 3.
transporter3_12: Director Olivier Megaton on the set of Transporter 3.
transporter3_poster: Theatrical Key Art.

By BRIAN TALLERICO
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
brian@hollywoodchicago.com