What's new

Blu-ray Review Kill Me Three Times Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

Matt Hough

Reviewer
Senior HTF Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2006
Messages
26,131
Location
Charlotte, NC
Real Name
Matt Hough
Kill Me Three Times Blu-ray Review

Simon Pegg headlining a movie generally means a good time will be had by all, but in his latest film Kill Me Three Times directed by Kriv Stenders, perhaps a better way to say it would be that a bloody good time will be had by all. This 21st century riff on the Coens’ Blood Simple offers viewers a black comedy thriller with multiple twists and surprises. There are occasional lapses in plotting its snaking narrative, but its tongue-in-cheek nastiness is contagious, and the film never takes itself seriously which is a great boon to its working throughout.



Studio: Magnet

Distributed By: Magnolia

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 2.39.1

Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HDMA

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish

Rating: R

Run Time: 1 Hr. 30 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

keep case in a slipcover

Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 07/07/2015

MSRP: $29.98




The Production Rating: 4/5

The target for several characters in the story is Alice Taylor (Alice Braga) who’s being watched by private investigator/hitman Charlie Wolfe (Simon Pegg) for her suspicious husband Jack (Callan Mulvey). But married couple Nathan Webb (Sullivan Stapleton) and his wife Lucy (Teresa Palmer) also have their own designs on the unsuspecting Alice, and both gas station attendant Dylan Smith (Luke Hemsworth) and local policeman Bruce Jones (Bryan Brown) get drawn into the domain of Alice and her husband from which many of the seven involved characters will not survive to see another day.

 

Though James McFarland’s script was not written in the labyrinthine style that was later concocted in the editing room, the result is still one of the most arresting examples of compact storytelling being delivered this year. The movie resets itself twice, each time going over some previously seen moments while fleshing out characters and schemes that were heretofore not revealed making the movie a kick to watch as the pieces fall gradually into place. In mimicking some of the look and tone of Blood Simple (though much of it takes place in bright daylight in some of the most spectacular vistas available in western Australia), director Kriv Stenders manages to find his own hip style even if he tries a couple of arty shots reversing horizontal for vertical but later stopping and dropping the motif (Blood Simple, on the other hand, was more of a piece stylistically). If you’re looking for heroes here, you won’t find them with seven quite despicable characters (even the earlier seemingly innocent Alice proves to be not so nice), and yet their personalities are so individual and ingratiating (even if they are thieves, murderers, cheaters, and schemers of the first rank) that one can’t help following their haphazard adventures no matter where they lead. And where they lead is to the last half hour being a bloodbath with very few survivors. Director Stenders doesn’t revel in the gore, but he doesn’t back away from it either making for some interesting murder scenarios as the film comes to its bloody conclusion. It's the kind of film you have to be in the mood for, but if you are, it's a kick.

 

Simon Pegg is a delightfully scumbag hitman with his handlebar mustache and scorpion tattoo peeping ever so coyly above his shirt collar, merciless and mercenary to a fault and thoroughly loving being bad. He begins and ends the movie in a delightful fashion even if he does use the F-word three times within the first four minutes of the film. Sullivan Stapleton is cast against type as a milquetoast dentist at the mercy of his harpy-like wife played by Teresa Palmer. The team has great give and take making their scenes together especially entertaining. As the bitter bar owner, Callan Mulvey shows great intensity, matched every step of the way by veteran Bryan Brown’s cocky cop Bruce Jones. As the more innocent members of the ensemble, Alice Braga and Luke Hemsworth are fine if a little intimidated by the expert company who surrounds them.



Video Rating: 4.5/5  3D Rating: NA

The film’s 2.39:1 theatrical aspect ratio is faithfully reproduced in a 1080p transfer using the AVC codec. Apart from a couple of scenes where focus seems just a tad off, sharpness is exemplary offering plenty of details in facial features of all the characters. Color is richly saturated but always natural with believable skin tones and only an occasional scene where color is bleached out a bit due to the bright natural lighting being used. Contrast has been consistently applied making for a more arresting picture. The movie has been divided into 12 chapters.



Audio Rating: 4.5/5

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix offers wonderful fidelity throughout with Johnny Klimek’s incessant jazzy score offering a terrific complement to the on-screen dramatics and spread through the entire soundstage. Dialogue has been excellently recorded and has been placed in the center channel while split sound effects make themselves known on a regular basis. A couple of massive explosions give the LFE channel some deep bass to channel.



Special Features Rating: 3.5/5

Audio Commentaries: director Kriv Stenders holds forth in both commentaries, assisted by cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson on the first one and producers Larry Malkin, Share Stallings, and Tania Chambers on the second one. His enthusiasm and pride in his work are very evident in both commentaries, and each one contains anecdotes about the making of the film and the time constraints they operated under with Simon Pegg’s tight schedule of availability.

 

Making Killing Me Three Times (18:16, HD): director Kriv Stenders, producer Larry Malkin, and all seven stars of the picture comment about the story and their characters and express their delight with working with one another.

 

Deleted Scene (4:53, HD): a party scene with a country song that was wisely cut.

 

Q&A (14:29, HD): star Simon Pegg and producers Larry Malkin, Share Stallings, and Tania Chambers share opinions and answer questions about the movie at the BFI London Film Festival in 2014.

 

Storyboards (5:16, HD): director Kriv Stenders’s intricate storyboards are shown in montage fashion.

 

Behind the Scenes Photo Gallery: eighteen color photos offered in step-through mode.

 

Poster Gallery: seven posters, each one featuring one of the stars of the film.

 

Promo Trailers (HD): Skin Trade, The Dead Lands, Serena.



Overall Rating: 4/5

Twisty with nothing on its mind but offering a bloody (literally) good time, Kill Me Three Times is fast, funny, and involving and deserves a rental from those who like their crime capers with a bit of devilish cheek. Recommended!


Reviewed By: Matt Hough


Support HTF when you buy this title:

 

Users who are viewing this thread

Latest Articles

Forum statistics

Threads
356,712
Messages
5,121,147
Members
144,147
Latest member
cennetkaralowa
Recent bookmarks
0
Top