Welcome Howard Martin to The Blu-ray Blog family in this, his first review for the site!
WRONG SIDE OF TOWN (2010, Blu-ray released February 23, 2010 – MSRP $29.99)
The worlds of wrestling and hip-hop collide on and in the Wrong Side of Town. WWE’s Rob Van Dam (RVD) and David Bautista are matched up with Ja Rule and Omarion in this action offering of a night-gone-wrong tale of criminal club-owners, dirty cops and some of the ugliest thugs-for-hire you’ll ever see.
This is definitely a movie where you put your brain on the shelf, sit back and enjoy the ride, but will this film appeal to non-wrestling fans? This is hard to say. I have a certain awareness of the WWE and it’s colourful personalities, who are definitely the focus of the movie; however, David DeFalco (Director) doesn’t quite have the film play to their strengths. I would have enjoyed seeing them facing off against their nemeses after a good name-calling, tongue-lashing session, but that’s just me.
Suburban family man, Bobby (RVD), reluctantly heads into the city for dinner, and for dessert, he ends up with a price on his head. The villainous club-owner, Seth, is willing to pay $100 000 for Rob’s capture and word gets out pretty quick. Every heavy in town wants to collect. Bobby needs help. Enter Big Ronnie (Bautista). Who doesn’t like a good tag-team team-up? Unfortunately, the action is a little slow and slow in coming, but features an impressive display of the Filipino martial art form Kali; it’s quick, intricate and beautiful in the way it flows. Bautista and fight coordinator/henchman, Marrese Crump, demonstrate their proficiency amidst bodies of felled bruisers.
I enjoyed the performance of the camera. Shot using a Red One®, the director captured crisp and clear images for a film shot primarily at night and under some low-lit situations. More and more we are seeing films shot with the versatile and relatively inexpensive digital option of Red® cameras. Its size and weight surely made the three-week shoot of what were clearly quick set-ups, in and around the Baton Rouge area, much easier. The Red® footage and a reasonable encode result in a Blu-ray that exhibits good, solid colour throughout, with some inconsistency in detail and contrast.
I felt that the DTS-HD MA audio track wasn’t used to its fullest potential. What we hear is adequate, but it would have been great to get right into the action–to get the tire squeals and bullets ricochets. The soundtrack itself is made up of both rock and hip-hop tracks, is never over the top and manages to compliment the scenes without distracting.
For bonus features, we are treated to cast interviews, including some behind-the-scenes tidbits with RVD telling us about set-life, his stunt performances and the difficulties of movement in costumes that don’t include a unitard. Also included on the disc are further demonstrations of Kali by Marrese Crump, Bautista and Oscar Lugo to Pronobozo track.
All in all the film is engaging enough for its running time of 85 minutes, and although Wrong Side of Town may not land the elbow from the top rope, it’ll keep you pinned (while the ref’s back is turned) ‘til the end.
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