BREAKING IN DVD (2018)
SYNOPSIS: Gabrielle Union stars as a woman who will stop at nothing to rescue her two children being held hostage in a house designed with impenetrable security. No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined on Breaking In.
MOVIE REVIEW:
Gabrielle Union (Sleepless, Bad Boys II) produced and stars in this “home invasion” thriller that is hardly worthy of her talent and your time.
Breaking In adds nothing new to the genre except maybe predictability all the way. Union stars as Shaun, a woman who travels to his recent deceased father’s sprawling estate with her two kids over the weekend only to find herself dealing with four bad guys.
It turned out her estranged late dad has embezzled some money before he is mysteriously killed off in the prologue. And somehow the bad guys has received news that his loot is hidden in a safe. With her two kids being locked up in the house with the baddies, Shaun must utilised her kick-ass maternal instincts to rescue them before the baddies get to her.
Director James McTeigue who has not made a decently worthwhile movie since V For Vendetta helmed this tiresome thriller that is often clichéd and features way less thrills than a 16 year old movie liked Panic Room.
For a house that boasts state-of-the-art security system, there’s little to showcase it’s worth other than having Union and the baddies running in and out of the house like kids playing catching. There isn’t any real suspense or plot twist so McTeigue has to rely on a couple of gruesome kills and tedious bantering from the group of generic baddies liked cool leader Eddie (Billy Burke from the Twilight series), the ruthless Mexican-American Duncan and the cowardly Sam to prolong the duration.
Though Union makes it a point that she is capable of being an action heroine, Breaking In is a poor choice in terms of script. Maybe she can consider taking over the Bad Boys franchise from Will Smith and Martin Lawrence.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
The DVD comes with an assortment of brief features including an Alternative Opening and 14 minutes of Deleted/Extended Scenes. One Bad Mother takes a look at Union and the plot. A Lesson In Kicking Ass is another quick look at the stunts and action. A Hero Evolved takes a look at Union’s performance. A Filmmaker's Eye is basically a feature on director James McTeigue and lastly, Feature Commentary with Director James McTeigue and Scriptwriter Ryan Engle.
AUDIO/VISUAL:
Even though almost the entire movie took place at night, the imaging quality is pretty good. Black levels are excellent and texture on the whole is crisp for a DVD. The Dolby Digital 5.1 does a decent job with the occasional intense sound effects and dialogue.
MOVIE RATING:
DVD RATING :
Review by Linus Tee
