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Ink Blu-ray features mediocre video and poor audio in this mediocre Blu-ray release
As the light fades and the city goes to sleep, two forces emerge. They are invisible except for the power they exert over us in our sleep, battling for our souls through dreams. One force delivers hope and strength through good dreams; the other infuses the subconscious with desperation through nightmares. John (Chris Kelly) and Emma (Quinn Hunchar), Father and Daughter are wrenched into this fantastical dream world battle, forced to fight for John's soul and to save Emma from an eternal nightmare. Separate in their journey, they encounter unusual characters that exist only in their subconscious. Or do they?
For more about Ink and the Ink Blu-ray release, see Ink Blu-ray Review published by Dustin Somner on January 6, 2010 where this Blu-ray release scored 2.5 out of 5.
Sometimes it's better to approach a film with a clean slate and zero expectations. In the case of most indie productions, the lack of marketing dollars leaves word-of-mouth as the only method of promoting the latest must see offering. Knowing I'd be reviewing Ink in the near future (one of the first Blu-rays from Indieblitz studio), I decided to check out the description on Amazon.com. Before I go any further, I should mention I'm always game for descriptors that stretch the imagination, but trying to generate buzz for an upcoming release by offering a synopsis that merely reads "It's a Wonderful Life meets Sin City in this high-concept visual thriller" almost seems reckless. Sin City is one of my favorite films of the past ten years, and there's no denying the lasting appeal of It's a Wonderful Life, but telling me I'm about to watch a film that melds the two into one should seem downright laughable. However, once I reached the halfway point of Ink, it finally dawned on me that the film truly does incorporate the emotional weight of It's a Wonderful Life, while delivering visually stimulating action in the vein of Sin City. It never comes close to matching the proficiency of either film, but I'm comfortable in offering my opinion that the comparison won't leave viewers scratching their head as the closing credits roll.
Is she a mere girl, or a Lioness on a mission?
Set in the present day, the film introduces viewers to a world that coexists with our own, but remains entirely unseen by human eyes. Within this alternate reality are warring factions known as the Storytellers and the Incubi. The Storytellers emerge each night to spread happy dreams among the deserving, and shelter them from the sinister intentions of the Incubi, who spread a veil of nightmares over the sleeping bodies of the wicked. One night, a mysterious deformed creature (called a Drifter) emerges within the human world through a portal and kidnaps a young girl. The Storytellers attempt to rescue the girl from the creature, but he proves to be a far more capable warrior, and escapes back to his own dimension with the girl in his possession. As we soon find out, the deformed creature known as Ink is tasked with taking the young girl to the Incubi leader in order to join their ranks and lose his deformities. However, during the initial brawl with the Storytellers, Ink loses the code to travel within the dimension of the Incubi leader. This sets in motion a journey to obtain a new code from two less-than-savory characters, and leads to the emergence of a Storyteller named Liev, who agrees to let Ink take her prisoner in order to remain near the girl.
Meanwhile, the girl's father, John (Soren Kelly) is battling his own demons in the real world, as he wrestles with the news that his daughter has fallen into a coma (in reality, Ink took her spirit into another dimension), and faces a costly investment battle with a rival financial firm. Having recently lost his wife in a car accident and his daughter in a custody battle with the parents of his deceased wife, John quickly descended into a downward spiral of drugs, alcohol and money. Unaware of the battle raging between the Storytellers and the Incubi for control over his life and the safety of his daughter, John must decide what is most valuable—the life of his daughter or a successful career.
Filmed on a reported budget of $250,000, Ink takes the phrase "labor of love" to a whole new level. Written, produced, directed, and scored by Jamin and Kiowa Winans, the production was screened at several film festivals in early 2009, but never managed to attract the backing of a studio. Several months later, the film was leaked onto multiple internet sites, where it reportedly accumulated over 400,000 views in the first week alone. In a surprise move, the Winans championed the piracy of their film, claiming the widespread downloading reached far more viewers than they could have hoped for (of note, the official website for Ink has a link where you can make a donation if you watched the film for free and feel so inclined). Hoping to gain further acceptance for their film in the home entertainment market, the Winans started their own production label titled Double Edge Films, and released Ink on DVD and Blu-ray through their website and specially selected retail outlets.
Now that we have that little history lesson out of the way, I should get down to the merits of the actual film itself. Perhaps it's an unfortunate byproduct of hype, but I don't quite understand the praise for the film among the web community. There are some interesting concepts strewn throughout the 105 minute runtime, and the film definitely appears more polished than we'd expect for such tremendous budgetary constraints, but there's nothing jaw-dropping enough to warrant a cult following. The major plot twist can be seen a mile away (and is telegraphed on multiple occasions within the story), the acting is hit-and-miss, and the conclusion of the film doesn't deliver the emotional impact I was expecting. I really wish I could delve further into the actions of the father toward the end of the film (to provide additional explanation regarding my disappointment with the ending), but digging deeper into the plot will only serve to ruin the experience for first-time viewers.
At this point, you're probably assuming I didn't enjoy the film, so I should make it clear that despite the problems noted above, I found plenty of entertainment value in my initial viewing of Ink. Considering the budgetary constraints on the production, the Winans did an excellent job creating penny-pinching sets that add to the stylish nature of the visuals. Likewise, the incorporation of subtle CG effects demonstrates restraint not always present in low-budget sci-fi tales. Nothing drags the attention of a viewer away from the plot quicker than the use of shoddy computer effects, so I was pleasantly surprised to discover little touches such as creepy smiley-face masks of the Incubi as they creep through the darkness. Lastly, despite some weak elements to the plot, Jamin Winans weaves an interesting tale of redemption and loss, while presenting a world that's dense and layered. The Storytellers and Incubi could easily be compared to angels and demons, as they struggle to claim souls within the dimension of reality. As the film goes on, Ink's role within the two dimensions becomes clear, and the internal struggle he wrestles with becomes the core of the film.
Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 24Mbps), Ink is a substantial disappointment in high-definition. I'm well aware that the cinematography intentionally casts most images in a softening haze to create a dreamlike quality. However, the unfortunate bi-product of that decision is a substantial dip in fine-object detail, and a transfer that rarely differentiates itself from the concurrent standard definition release. Anyone with an eye for detail will have no trouble spotting areas where the over-processed source material results in a loss of texture, despite the presence of film grain in the background. This leads me to believe what was initially thought to be an issue of DNR in the engineering of the transfer is really just a prevalence of film techniques used to hide low-budget effects and CGI. Since the transfer seems faithful to the source material in the detail department, I'd be hard-pressed to knock it for something that couldn't be helped. However, there are two distinct areas where the transfer falls short. First, the use of contrast is extremely weak, with some scenes appearing washed out, and others drenched in a black veil that eliminates any potential for shadow detail. Black levels are decent from time to time, but the brightness boosting in the alternate world removes depth in the darker portions of the image, firmly grounding the visuals in 2-D. From a color standpoint, Ink is all over the board, with only occasional moments of natural color use. The rest of the time we're treated to heavily filtered shots that skew the palette in one dominant direction (green in one scene and blue in the next). Finally, the most disappointing aspect of the transfer is the presence of artifacting during a handful of scenes. MPEG-2 has the ability to look good, but the compression engineers have to possess a sure hand in dedicating the appropriate bitrate to different segments. As it stands, there are several moments where static portions of the picture move ever so slightly, drawing attention to the unsightly anomalies (such as gravel, or parallel lines with minimal spacing).
I'm trying to temper my disappointment in the transfer by acknowledging some of the failings are the result of intentional aspects of the source material. However, the overall level of weakness can't be blamed 100% on the cinematography, which should have allowed more than a marginal improvement over the standard definition version.
Considering Ink was released in 2009, I have no clue why the only audio offering on the disc is a Dolby Digital 2.0 track. Even low budget action films should incorporate at least a degree of surround separation, so the lack of that element from the mix clearly detracts from the experience. Getting down to the bones of the front-heavy track, we have a straightforward mix with a nice sense of balance between the dialogue, musical score, and effects. I never noticed any hiss or drop-out from the track, but there are several instances when the dialog falls below ideal levels. During the more rousing moments of the film, the incorporation of accurate environmental effects coupled with unique strike sounds (kicks or punches) lend a greater sense of immersion in the onscreen action. Likewise, I was impressed with the clarity of the musical score, which adds to the airy, dreamlike tone of the film.
Despite my overall disappointment with the inclusion of a lossy 2.0 track, the audio experience is still not a complete waste of time if you go into it with low expectations. I know that doesn't instill much excitement in the hearts of audiophiles who upgraded to Blu-ray for the abundant improvements it offers, but up and coming studios don't always have the financial means to upgrade the audio in the manner we've grown accustomed to.
10 Minutes Behind the Scenes (480p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 8:39 min): There's nothing quite as heart-warming as a tale of the little guy going out and doing something he believes in. This brief featurette provides a glimpse of the rocky uphill battle the production went through, beginning with the rejection of the script by any and all studios, and the eventual decision to proceed with the film from the living room of the Winans' house.
Coffee with Chris and Quinn (1080i, Dolby Digital 2.0, 6:36 min): Starring Chris Kelly (John) and Quinn Hunchar (Emma), this candid chat shows the two stars sitting down for coffee and chatting about their favorite scenes in the film. Both actors are extremely likeable and spend the majority of their time joking around with one another.
Deleted Scene (1080p, Dolby Digital 2.0, 1:32 min): Here we have a scene that was cut from the film following one of the initial premiere showings.
Rounding out the extras, we're given two high-definition trailers for Ink (extremely well-constructed), and a feature length audio commentary with Jamin and Kiowa Winans. The audio commentary is one of the better tracks I've had the opportunity to listen to, since there's always a wealth of interesting information exposed during a dissection of "labor of love" projects.
Ink is a film that shows ample ambition in storytelling and production values (considering the budget), but fails to deliver enough substance to match the style on display. Several years ago I fell in love with a small indie film called Donnie Darko, which called forth questions of reality, time travel, and the paths we choose to take. Ink follows a different formula, but still attempts to engage the viewer on a more cerebral level. This would normally be a recipe for success, but when you go down that route, you have to assume your viewers are going to analyze every twist and turn of the plot with a fine tooth comb. In order for a film of that nature to successfully generate lasting appeal, it's important to incorporate ambiguity (as was the case with Donnie Darko), or ensure the character motivations and twists are precise and consistent. Since there's not much ambiguity in Ink, I was hoping the plot would wrap things up in a nice neat box. Instead, we're left wondering how motivations play out, and how the two worlds connect in some situations, but not in others. In the end, I'd still give Ink a recommendation as a rental, but the combination of questionable lasting appeal coupled with technical merits that simply don't measure up, prevent this from becoming a worthwhile purchase.
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