{"id":9370,"date":"2015-04-13T06:49:27","date_gmt":"2015-04-13T13:49:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/?p=9370"},"modified":"2015-04-13T06:50:48","modified_gmt":"2015-04-13T13:50:48","slug":"review-everly-bd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moviemansguide.com\/main\/2015\/04\/review-everly-bd\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Everly BD + Screen Caps"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Everly<\/em><\/strong> is one of the more unambitious yet ambitious films I\u2019ve come across. The action is relatively well shot and Hayek, considering what she had to work with, wasn\u2019t terrible (not great either) and she seemed to hold her own in the fight scenes. However, with that said, it\u2019s very uneven in tone and genre.<\/p>\n

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Everly<\/span>
\n(2014)<\/strong><\/p>\n


\nREVIEW NAVIGATION<\/strong><\/span>
\nThe Movie<\/a> | Special Features<\/a> | Video Quality<\/a> | Audio Quality<\/a> | Overall<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre(s): <\/strong>Action, Thriller, Horror
\nAnchor Bay | R \u2013 92 min. \u2013 $26.99 | April 21, 2015<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/td>\n <\/b>MOVIE INFO:
\n<\/span>Directed by: <\/strong>Joe Lynch
\nWriter(s): <\/strong>Joe Lynch and Yale Hannon (story), Yale Hannon (screenplay)
\nCast: <\/strong>Salma Hayek, Hiroyuki Watanabe, Laura Cepeda, Togo Igawa, Akie Kotabe, Grabriella Wright<\/p>\n

DISC INFO:
\n<\/span>Features: <\/strong>Audio Commentaries, Music Video
\nDigital Copy: <\/strong>No
\nNumber of Discs: <\/strong>1<\/p>\n

Audio: <\/strong>English (DTS-HD MA 5.1)
\nVideo: <\/strong>1080p\/Widescreen 2.39
\nSubtitles: <\/strong>English SDH, Spanish
\nDisc Size: <\/strong>20.1 GB
\nCodec: <\/strong>MPEG-4 AVC
\nRegion(s): <\/strong>A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n


\n** Click Here to Purchase Everly<\/em> on Blu-ray from Amazon.com<\/a><\/strong> **<\/p>\n

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THE MOVIE<\/strong> \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Everly<\/em><\/strong> is an action-thriller-horror-comedy-drama that clearly takes some of its cues from Quentin Tarantino\u2019s Kill Bill<\/em> though without his trademark dialogue and (somewhat) in-depth story. But what it does have in common is a kick ass heroine this time in the form of Salma Hayek who stars as the title character.<\/p>\n

When the film opens, we are kept in the dark as to what is happening. Opening over black, a woman is clearly being tortured before we see Everly running into a bathroom and takes out a gun and phone from the toilet, frantically making calls one to a police detective, the other to her home, both times getting only voice message. On her own, apparently her fight or flight kicks in and manages to take down several armed men and received only a flesh wound in the process. This is one of the more farfetched elements \u2013 even in a movie like this \u2013 as we find out Everly is a sex slave \u201cworking\u201d for a sadistic Japanese man.<\/p>\n

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This Japanese man had discovered Everly was working with the police to shut his operation down and is determined to take her out and in doing so, Everly is stuck inside one apartment and building as a variety of killers, including her former \u201cco-workers\u201d, come after her. Also in danger is Everly\u2019s mother (LAURA CEPEDA) and daughter (GABRIELLA WRIGHT), both of whom she\u2019s estranged from.<\/p>\n

The film takes place, primarily, inside one apartment occasionally taking viewers into the hallway as Everly is one-by-one gunned for in a variety of ways (machine gun, grenade, etc.) and even goes into the vicious Saw<\/em> territory when one man, a self-proclaim sadist, locks Everly into a cage, threatening her with a variety of acids.<\/p>\n

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And it\u2019s scenes like this that makes Everly<\/em><\/strong> such an uneven film, not sure of itself what genre it wants to be. Early on, there\u2019s clear dark comedic elements going on as she converses with a Japanese businessman, named simply \u201cDead Man\u201d (AKIE KOTABE), paralyzed by a gunshot, and offers tips to Everly as she cleans up the apartment stuffing dead bodies wherever she could. But this is followed-up by a conversation with the antagonist in which he threatens to, paraphrasing, pimp Everly\u2019s daughter out. Dark turned into damn near bleak. And yet the action continued to ramp up, gallons of blood spilt as the body count piled up.<\/p>\n

Performance-wise, Salma Hayek, to me anyway, was kind of the poor man\u2019s Penelope Cruz but in fairness, and she doesn\u2019t give that great of a performance, she really doesn\u2019t get much to work with considering it\u2019s a simple enough story with just enough character development to keep one\u2019s interest.<\/p>\n

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Everly <\/em><\/strong>was co-written, along with Yale Hannon (debut), and helmed by Joe Lynch whose previous ventures included Wrong Turn 2: Dead End<\/em> and Knights of Badassdom<\/em>, the latter of which received some online publicity but never quite delivered in spite of an impressive ensemble cast. In this film, though, it seems Hannon and Lynch were channeling their inner Tarantino, with I guess old school Rodriguez, and although the film has its moments, taken as a whole, it just never worked. Hayek isn\u2019t terrible and she kicks ass but the meandering of genres wasn\u2019t consistent.<\/p>\n

In the end, Everly<\/em><\/strong> might be worth a rental but nothing more.<\/p>\n

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SPECIAL FEATURES \u2013 2.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The features are relatively light but we do get two Audio Commentaries<\/span><\/strong>, the first with Co-Writer\/Director Joe Lynch, Co-Producer Brett Hedblom and Editor Evan Schiff; and the second featuring Lynch and Cinematographer Steve Gainer. Both tracks are actually very entertaining with Lynch being the most lively of the commentators but also offering information and background on the project.<\/p>\n

Also included is a Music Video (3:27; HD)<\/span><\/strong> of \u201cSilent Night\u201d by Raya Yarbrough and Bear McCreary.<\/p>\n

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VIDEO \u2013 3.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Everly<\/em><\/strong> takes aim onto Blu-ray presented in its original 2.39 aspect ratio and a 1080p high-definition transfer. The picture quality is decent enough with good detail levels, colors appear to be well balanced and there were no discernible signs of aliasing or artifacting but I did notice some banding early on. However, it\u2019s not the sharpest looking picture, at times there seemed to be pretty soft in some scenes. Although not great, it\u2019s in the acceptable range.
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AUDIO \u2013 4.5\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track goes into overdrive with good balance from the more dialogue-centric scenes, few as they are, and especially the action sequences which give an extra boost from the flurry of gunfire to explosions and, disturbingly, blood-curdling screams. The lossless track has exceptional depth and quite dynamic when the LFE channel kicks in but not to the extreme where windows will rattle but instead gives vibration to the floors.<\/p>\n

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OVERALL \u2013 2.75\/5<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Overall, Everly<\/em><\/strong> is one of the more unambitious yet ambitious films I\u2019ve come across. The action is relatively well shot and Hayek, considering what she had to work with, wasn\u2019t terrible (not great either) and she seemed to hold her own in the fight scenes. However, with that said, it\u2019s very uneven in tone and genre: going from torture-suspense to action to dark\/black comedy to drama and rotates through each one, although seems to lose the comedic element as the film dragged on. It might be worth a rental, just lower your expectations.<\/p>\n

The Blu-ray released by Anchor Bay offers OK video, great audio and a so-so selection of bonus material which consists of two entertaining commentaries and a music video.<\/p>\n

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Brian Oliver, The Movieman
\n<\/em>Published: <\/strong>04\/13\/2015<\/p>\n

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Check out some more screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers<\/strong>.
\nThese are only here to give an idea of the movie\u2019s video quality and may not be truly representative of it.<\/p>\n