Those Who Wish Me Dead is the pinnacle serviceable suspense-thriller, something that could’ve come out in the 1990s. Angelina Jolie is great in the lead and even the young Finn Little thankfully wasn’t obnoxious.
Those Who Wish Me Dead
(2021)
Genre(s): Suspense/Thriller, Drama, Crime
Warner Bros.| R – 100 min. – $34.98 | August 3, 2021
Date Published: 08/05/2021 | Author: The Movieman
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Warner Bros. Studios Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: Hannah (ANGELINA JOLIE) is a smoke jumper reeling from the loss of three young lives she failed to save from a fire. Sent to spend the weekend at a fire tower, she comes across a bloodied and traumatized 12-year-old boy (FINN LITTLE) and the two set out together to cross miles of thick forest. Braving deadly lightning storms that challenge even Hannah’s well-honed survival skills, the pair are being pursued by two killers (AIDEN GILLEN, NICHOLAS HOULT). Meanwhile, a massive fiery blaze heads toward them.
Quick Hit Review: I first watched Those Who Wish Me Dead on HBO Max figuring it’s free (I get the service as part of an HBO subscription through my cable provider) and while it wasn’t a bad movie for sure, with Angelina Jolie still on top of her game, the movie itself doesn’t really have anything special about it. Some of the effects were alright and I can’t say I was never engaged, however the villains are cardboard cutouts which is a shame as Aiden Gillen usually plays a fun bad guy. The film also features a decent supporting cast, most notably Jon Bernthal playing a good guy for once and has a few fine scenes while Nicholas Hoult, as a former soldier turned assassin, can be a tad scary and has some decent scenes with Gillen. The young actor Finn Little, in only this fourth feature film, wasn’t at all obnoxious thankfully since I’m not very fond of kids in movies as they tend to either overact or be overly precocious, but in this he’s not at all bad and has a couple heartfelt scenes opposite Jolie.
The bigger disappointment is this was co-scripted, based off of a novel, by Taylor Sheridan, the screenwriter behind some fantastic thrillers including Sicario, Hell or High Water and Wind River (which he also helmed). Here, there’s nothing that pops out both in terms of the direction and writing. I can respect a couple of the action scenes however, and this goes for the movie as a whole, it’s not a very memorable film. All of that said, I would say it’s a worth a rental (or viewing on HBO Max down the line) as there are a few elements that work. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1½/5 |
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This release comes with a matted slip cover. Inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. The only bonus is Making Those Who Wish Me Dead (14:30) behind-the-scenes featurette. |
VIDEO – 4½/5 |
| Those Who Wish Me Dead comes to Blu-ray presented with a 2.38 widescreen aspect ratio and given a 1080p high-definition transfer. Detail on this picture is sharp and nicely defined and colors are bright and vibrant with a good array from the natural elements in the forest to the hot orange of the raging fire. Black levels appear nicely balanced without being overly crushed. |
AUDIO – 4¾/5 |
| The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track included here sounds great. Along with the clear and clean dialogue, there is some great bass work from the LFE channel while any of the ambient noises, especially in the forest, makes its way through the front and rear speakers. |
OVERALL – 3¼/5 |
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Those Who Wish Me Dead is the pinnacle serviceable suspense-thriller, something that could’ve come out in the 1990s. Angelina Jolie is great in the lead and even the young Finn Little thankfully wasn’t obnoxious. Otherwise, this is one that I likely won’t remember but worthy of a rental at least. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.