Snatched - 4K Blu-ray Review

[Michael Scott]

Snatched

Movie:
Video:
Audio:
Extras:
Final Score: ​

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Movie
Amy Schumer. Ah, good old Amy. I have to admit that I was actually entertained by the first season of her TV show Inside Amy Schumer (which is more of a rip off of Chelsea Handler’s style of comedy) and she had made a few comedic cameos in films before that I enjoyed, but her “I’m a nasty dirty whore!” self depreciating schtick has gotten REALLY old by now. The last season her show, her latest comedy special that has become infamous on Netflix for being one of the worst rated comedy specials of all time, and the disappointing letdown that was her feature film debut Trainwreck have left me rather soured to the fact that Amy Schumer just isn’t that funny anymore. Now, I was actually willing to give Snatched a chance as I grew up LOVING Goldie Hawn. She and Kurt Russell were Hollywood’s cutest non married couples to ever grace the silver screen and her comedic stylings was pure gold when I was growing up. Unfortunately Hawn is pretty much sidelined the entire movie and Amy bears the brunt of this shaky film on her inept shoulders.

Snatched had the right idea. It features a mother daughter team of girls who get kidnapped in a ‘fish out of water’ scenario. Girl power to the extreme as they get out of the horrific situation, bond together, and find the will to survive. Basically your typical buddy film. Well, unfortunately Snatched takes a swing and a miss as Jonathon Levine (Warm Bodies, The Night Before, 50/50) plows through the film like an ADHD drunkard, throwing plot points left and right hoping that SOME of Amy’s “attempts” at humor sticks against the wall. Amy plays Emily Middleton, who is basically Amy Schumer with a different name. A self centered narcissist whose boyfriend dumps her just before their beautiful Ecuadorian vacation, Emily takes comfort in her paranoid and do nothing mother Linda (Goldie Hawn), begging her to come down to Ecuador with her so the vacation doesn’t go to waste. While down there the girls getting suckered into falling for a handsome man named James (Tom Bateman) who ends up selling them into slavery to a Columbian psychopath Morgada (Oscar Jaenada).

Barely escaping with their lives, Emily and Linda have to figure out a way to somehow make it to the English consulate in Bogota, and hopefully not kill each other in the process. Along the way they’re aided by a pair of vacationing retired black ops agents (Wanda Sykes and a near unrecognizable Jane Cusack), Emily’s brother Jeffrey (Ike Barinholtz) and a few random natives as well. The two women have to rely on each others differences and strengths if they are going to survive, and Emily has to figure out just HOW to care about another human being for a change.

Snatched really does follow a tried and true buddy formula. Fish out of water, mother and daughter bonding, a great director, Goldie Hawn, and some fun tropes. However the movie is an enormous MESS in production. It’s obvious that there were huge sections of the movie that were just cut and left on the editing floor, as the pace is insanely jerky and fractured, with a running time of just over 80 minutes of actual story. The biggest detriment to the movie is really Amy Schumer. She’s just NOT funny, and her “I’m a gross disgusting pig!” type humor has gotten so old and tired that I couldn’t crack a smile once when she was talking. The first 30 minutes of the movie with Amy prattling non stop was utter TORTURE, and it wasn’t until Christopher Meloni comes in to share the comedy load that I actually started chuckling a little. The other problem is having a comedic legend like Goldie Hawn pretty much sidelined in her own movie. I know that Amy is the new hotness, but there was ample room for Goldie to shine, but was pretty much only given a few minutes in the limelight and her true talents were stifled.

Side characters really made the funny portions of the movie funny though. Christopher Meloni as the guide is probably the single funniest character in the movie, and his fireside chat with Emily and Linda actually had me full out laughing at one point. While I normally don’t like Wanda Sykes, her team up with Joan Cusack as the vacationing special ops duo actually had me crack a smile or two. Sykes is her normal annoying self, but Cusack’s silent physical comedy was priceless. However, none of could overcome the ridiculously ADHD script that Levine directed. The movie is all over the place with whole sections feeling drastically different than what came before it, and the jumbled cuts made me wonder if Levine had edited this in about 45 minutes during a lunch break.




Rating:

Rated R for crude sexual content, brief nudity, and language throughout




Video:

I couldn't find any real information on the mastering process or cameras used for for the film, but I'm assuming that it's a 2K digital master as the film has all the earmarks and decent (if not great at times) tactile upgrades from the 1080p Blu-ray. Wrinkles on Goldie Hawn's face, clothing details, and small things like waving blades of grass or jungle leaves show more textural details, and the mild softness that the Blu-ray had is is not as prevalent. Colors pop just a little bit more with the use of HDR, and the blacks are deep and inky, without any sign of crush (for the most part. I did see a little teeny bit in the underground cell that Linda and Emily are holed up in during the initial capture). It's a solid uptick in detail and clarity over the Blu-ray, and very typical of the 2K masters that we've seen so far.




Audio:

Fox has given us a very VERY impressive sounding 7.1 DTS-HD MA track to enjoy on BOTH the Blu-ray and the 4K UHD disc. As with most comedies, dialog is one of the biggest focal points of the track, and the vocals come through with crystal clear precision. Even Amy’s incessant mumbling is perfectly intelligible at all times. However, Snatched manages to rise above your average laugh track comedy and has enough action and adventure throughout to really give it a kick in the pants. Gun shots ring out with clarity and authority, and the LFE flows effortlessly throughout the poppy/urban score. Crashes, booms, and explosions cause some nice pant flapping bass, and the surrounds get a lot of activity with the chaos that ensues. There’s naturally some front heaviness at times, but when the action gets going around the 30 minute mark it becomes much more immersive.
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Extras:

• Deleted Scenes
• Extended and Alternate Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Director Commentary by Jonathan Levine

Final Score: ​

Snatched is intermittently funny, but that is a feat that is achieved only after long periods of horrible Amy Schumer “comedy” and whole chunks of the movie that feels like even LARGER portions of the movie was left on the cutting room floor. I chuckled a small handful of times, and Joan Cusack’s physical comedy was the highlight of the film, but even that does very little to rescue a movie that was more of a train wreck than Trainwreck. Audio and video are great and the extras solid enough, but I’d still recommended skipping Snatched unless you’re trying to torture the friends and family members in your life that you’re subjecting to this film. Even IF it's the superior 4K version.




Technical Specifications:

Starring: Amy Schumer, Goldie Hawn, Kim Caramele
Directed by: Jonathan Levine
Written by: Katie Dippold
Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1 HEVC
Audio: English: DTS-HD MA 7.1, French, German, Italian DTS 5.1, Spanish DD 5.1
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Rated: R
Runtime: 91 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: August 8th, 2017

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• Michael Scott
• May 11, 2017

Recommendation: Skip It.

 

[tripplej]

Thanks, will skip it.

 

[Michael Scott]

I don't think you'll regret that decision