The Cell 2 Blu-ray

The Cell 2

 (2009)

Sci-Fi | Thriller



Imagine a serial killer who flatlines his victims and then brings them back to life over and over again, until they beg to die. Beautiful psychic investigator Maya Casteneda (Tessie Santiago) was his last victim and swore vengeance on her tormentor before she escaped. Now The Cusp is back, and the FBI taps Maya to help capture the elusive monster. Maya soon discovers the only way she can locate The Cusp is to enter his head. The danger: if Maya dies in the killers brain, she dies in real life!

For more details about The Cell 2 on Blu-ray, see The Cell 2 Blu-ray Review

Starring: Tessie Santiago, Chris Bruno, Frank Whaley, Bart Johnson
Director: Tim Iacofano

The Cell 2 Blu-ray, Video Quality

 

The Blu-ray edition of The Cell 2 eeks by with a passable 1080p/VC-1 transfer; an oversaturated, overcooked presentation that no doubt renders its source to the satisfaction of its filmmakers. Colors are garish and syrupy: skintones alternate between flushed and bronzed, unchecked black levels frequently absorb detail, and delineation is generally a joke. Still, it's obvious that Daddy Day Camp cinematographer Geno Salvatori was aiming for just such an overbearing, migraine inducing palette. The rest of the picture rises and falls with the requisite limitations of a low budget, direct-to-video release. Detail is decidedly hit or miss -- sharp one moment and spongy the next -- and textures are often smeared by rampant noise reduction. Artifacts occasionally interrupt the proceedings and have their way with high-contrast areas of the image. And a healthy application of post-production sharpening gives everything an artificial edginess that isn't attractive in the slightest. All things considered, The Cell 2 offers a decent high definition transfer that should please anyone who winds their way to the credits.

The Cell 2 Blu-ray, Audio Quality

 

Regardless of anything I'm about to write, let it be known that The Cell 2 couldn't possibly sound much better than it does here. With that out of the way, grant me the pleasure of sinking a serrated blade into the amateur-hour sound design Warner's Dolby TrueHD 5.1 surround track has been saddled with. Dialogue is crisp and clear, but the front speakers so dominate the mix that I was rarely able to immerse myself in the film's ham-fisted sonics. Effects are too punchy, the musical score is poorly prioritized, and rear speaker activity is inconsistent and innocuous. LFE support is strong but unnaturally cumbersome; it lacks the fine-precision heft and fundamental oomph I've come to expect from a lossless audio track. Moreover, the sound designers favor volume boosting and normalization trickery over nuanced weight, accurate directionality, or rousing dynamics. It's all so fat and lazy that I found myself marveling at its commitment to mediocrity. Again, I doubt the film could sound any better than it does here, but I wouldn't rush out to recommend this TrueHD track to anyone.

The Cell 2 Blu-ray, News and Updates

• The Cell 2 Announced for Blu-ray - April 9, 2009

The Cell 2 Blu-ray, Forum Discussions

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