When I reviewed the film a few months ago, I initially gave it a decent review. Upon my second viewing, my feelings about the film have improved a bit. The problem is that the film doesn’t have any progressive character development. The characters do develop during the film, but the characters progress quite suddenly.
Throughout the film, the tension between Vic and Stu never really thaws. Instead, the relationship finally starts to thaw once Stu stands up to Vic. Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen until close to the start of the third act. Thankfully, this moment is one of the best parts of the entire film. Also, the chemistry and banter between the two are much less strained now.
At the same time, Vic’s quest to capture Tedjo isn’t all that interesting or engaging. You can tell early on that things are not what they seem. So when the reveal finally occurs, it’s not all that surprising. It’s a very predictable film. Regardless, each lead that Vic investigates leads to some hilarious moments. There’s a lot of funny and memorable moments. Admittedly, I didn’t think the film was funny at first. However, the more I watched the film, the funnier it got.
A lot of laughs also come from Bautista’s character being blind for the majority of the film. Bautista gets to show his slapstick comedic side with all the times he tumbles and runs into stuff. At the same time, Nanjiani is his usual sarcastic and funny self. He brings a lot of laughs through his witty dialogue and improv lines.
Overall, Stuber is one funny buddy cop film. The chemistry between Bautista and Nanjiani is great but it’s a shame that their relationship doesn’t progress as good as it should. Nevertheless, the film features a lot of funny and memorable moments that’ll make you want to watch the film over and over again.
Movie Rating: 3.5/5 atoms
Video
Stuber hits Blu-ray with a 1080p MPEG-AVC with a 2.39:1 aspect ratio. The picture’s medium contrast leads to some great brightness and black levels. The bright areas are vibrant and distinct without any bloom in these areas. For a regular 1080p Blu-ray, it’s really rare to see black levels where you can see a lot of details in dark areas. This is one of those rare moments. The black levels are fantastic since the shadow details are dark, definite, and have zero crush in these areas. You can see it in Bautista and Nanjiani’s hair. The picture also has an overall warm tone to it. As a result, the colors have a warm tone to them. Regardless, the colors are rich and natural look to them. The details are also super clean as well. Overall, the picture is amazing.
Video Rating: 5/5 atoms
Audio
Stuber hits Blu-ray with a 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track. Since the film is very dialogue-heavy, there’s no much playfulness in the movement of sound across the soundstage. Instead, the audio mix relies on object placement to immerse the audience in the film. Even then, these moments are very limited. These immersive moments come in during the film’s few action scenes. The atmospherics and Joe Trapanese’s score are subtly played during the entire mix. However, the music itself is layered throughout the soundstage. For a dialogue-heavy film, the dialogue is clear and distinct from the center channel speaker. Surprisingly, there’s a good amount of bass coming from the subwoofer as well—especially during the strip club scene. Overall, this is a standard action-comedy kind of audio mix.
Audio Rating: 4/5 atoms
Special Features
Stuber has the following special features on the Blu-ray disc:
- Deleted Scenes with Optional Commentary with Michael Dowse and Kumail Nanjiani
- Stu’s Mannequins
- Vic Calls McHenry
- Doris
- Stu Shares His Plan
- Stu and Nicole
- Gag Reel
- Joke-O-Rama
- Georgia Film Works
- Audio Commentary with Michael Dowse and Kumail Nanjiani
- Gallery
- Theatrical Trailer
It’s a shame that there aren’t any behind-the-scenes featurettes in this release. Instead, the Blu-ray release features an audio commentary with the director of the film and one of its stars. Unfortunately, the audio commentary with Dowse and Nanjiani is a very run-of-the-mill type of audio commentary. There are a lot of pauses in the commentary and the two don’t provide a lot of insightful information. Be that as it may, there are a few hilarious moments and stories shared by the two.
However, the lack of featurettes is replaced by an abundance of unused improv jokes. Unfortunately, the deleted scenes don’t quite fall under the funny or necessary category. The Gag Reel and Joke-O-Rama are the two hilarious features. There is some cross-pollination between the two but Joke-O-Rama is where you’ll laugh the most. Weirdly enough, Georgia Film Works is simply an ad for the Georgia Film Commission. Yeah, we don’t know why this is in there either.
Special Features Rating: 3/5 atoms
Overall, Stuber is a funny buddy cop film highlighted by the comedic talents of Kumail Nanjiani and Dave Bautista. There are some issues with the film but that shouldn’t distract you from all the hilarity in the film. Even though the picture quality is superb, the audio mix doesn’t quite have the playfulness you’d find in most action comedies. The special features are hilarious but that’s all these special features are good for.
Overall Rating: 4/5 atoms
This Blu-ray was reviewed using a retail/advance copy/unit provided by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
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