Eraser: Reborn Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 2¼/5

Plot Synopsis: U.S. Marshal Mason Pollard (DOMINIC SHERWOOD) specializes in “erasing” people — faking the deaths of high-risk witnesses. With the technological advances of the last 25 years, the game has upgraded, and it’s just another day at the office when he’s assigned to Rina Kimura (JACKY LAI), a crime boss’ wife who’s decided to turn state’s evidence. As the two flee to Cape Town, South Africa, with a team of merciless assassins on their trail, Pollard discovers he’s been set up. Double-crossed and fueled by adrenaline, he needs to be at the top of his game, or he’ll be the one who’s erased. Permanently.

Review: When Eraser was released back in 1996 (25+ years now, yikes!), it managed to take in $242 million worldwide off of a $100 million budget, so not a big loss but not enough of a success to make it a franchise, not to mention only a month prior Mission: Impossible was released which raked in $458 million off of an $80 million budget, and I remember the comparisons back then. Of course, M:I did not have a poor CGI crocodile…

Considering the original Eraser was entertaining but nothing special, I’m perfectly okay when movies of that caliber are remade or rebooted but like The Transporter: Refueled, Eraser: Reborn is a movie that might’ve been competently shot but the script, written by Michael Weiss (I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, The Butterfly Effect 2, Hostel Part III, The Scorpion King 4) and dialogue was shoddy being delivered by a cast of bland, uncharismatic actors, led by Dominic Sherwood, one of the leads of a show called Shadowhunters (which aired on Freeform in the U.S.) who doesn’t have much range or worse, unlike Schwarzenegger, personality.

The remainder of the supporting cast was just as unremarkable. Jacky Lai plays the woman whom Pollard is protecting and once again, like the 1996 original, Pollard’s mentor (McKinley Belcher III of Ozark) turns out to be the big baddie, though not only was it predictable, they at least didn’t reveal it for the third act, and made the revelation fairly early on. Outside of those two, everyone else is even more forgettable.

Eraser: Reborn was directed by John Pogue. When his name came up in the opening I recognized it but couldn’t pinpoint what else he had worked on. Looking him up afterward, forgot he was the writer behind The Skulls (as well as U.S. Marshals) and had previously helmed some gems including Quarantine 2 and Deep Blue Sea 3.

This is one to skip as there’s really no entertainment value, even if I can commend the production for employing some practical pyrotechnic effects.

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1½/5

This release comes with a matted slip cover and inside a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. The only feature is The Warrior and the Witness: Making Eraser: Reborn (9:12) with some behind-the-scenes footage and interviews.

VIDEO – 4/5

AUDIO – 3¾/5

OVERALL – 2½/5

While a movie like Eraser was primed for a reboot (better yet, a TV series) as the concept is good, the result with Eraser: Reborn was poorly conceived from script to performances. This feels and sounds like the direct-to-video action-thriller it was, just not very entertaining.