Rogue Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this excellent Blu-ray release
Samantha O'Hara leads a group of mercenaries on an African mission to rescue schoolgirls, but their effort hits a snag when they find themselves out of ammunition and lost while trying to fight off kidnappers and wild animals.
For more about Rogue and the Rogue Blu-ray release, see Rogue Blu-ray Review published by Brian Orndorf on February 12, 2021 where this Blu-ray release scored 4.0 out of 5.
While the team at Lionsgate is surely trying to find anything to entice viewers into watching "Rogue," the cover of the Blu-ray offers a note that the
picture is "from the director of 'Silent Hill: Revelation'," and provides images of star Megan Fox and a snarling male lion, which isn't even featured in
the film. There's little on the outside that seems promising about the production, and it turns out there isn't much to embrace about the movie, which
presents itself as some type of actioner with a conservation message buried beneath layers of tepid plotting, bad screenwriting, and weak
performances. "Rogue" begins with a bang, announcing itself with big guns, bad guys, and pogo stick cinematography (credited to Brendan Barnes),
but it soon settles into a "Jaws" situation of survival on an African lion farm, only writers Isabel Bassett and M.J. Bassett (who also directs) don't push
hard enough on animal activity, making the effort more about exposition than exploitation, which dials down the potential fun factor of the material.
In the wilds of Africa, a team of mercenaries, led by Samantha (Mega Fox), are making their way to a terrorist camp run by Zalaam (Adam Deacon).
Hidden away in the camp is Asila (Jessica Sutton), the kidnapped daughter of the governor, with Samantha's team handed one shot to rescue the
girl and make a quick escape. The plan goes south in the hurry, with the unit discovering human trafficking cages, forcing Samantha to take on
more than she was expecting, putting Zalaam on her tail as she puts together an escape plan. Taking off into the night, the mercenaries find shelter
in an empty lion farm, learning that the property was used to breed animals for hunting and Eastern medicine purposes. However, any sort of
stability is threatened by the presence of a hungry lioness eager to maul the invaders, while Zalaam gets closer to the farm, thirsting for revenge as
Samantha scrambles to protect her team and girls from trouble closing in on all sides.
Bassett isn't known for quality filmmaking. She's the helmer of "Solomon Kane," "Inside Man: Most Wanted" (yes, there was a sequel to Spike Lee's
"Inside Man"), and the aforementioned "Silent Hill: Revelation," a ridiculous, low-budget follow-up to the 2006 original that was largely created to
profit off the trend of upcharge-crazy 3D releases. Bassett tries to make one from the heart with "Rogue," using the South African lion farm system
as the backdrop for a story of survival, trying to bring such horrors to the world of B-movie entertainment. She almost gets there with her opening
act, spotlighting the experience of the central lioness as she's slammed through a maze of cages, surrounded by the remains of animals bred to be
stripped of parts and sold around the world. It's a nightmare for the creature and rattling for viewers suddenly thrust into the meat market, run by
callous employees who have no concerns beyond their payments. Into this area arrives Samantha and the mercenaries, a team of sassy types and
one local who organize an infiltration plan, hoping to extract Asila without being detected.
Of course, chaos is triggered when the plan falls apart, setting up a battle between Samantha's men and Zalaam, who doesn't initially understand
what's going on, soon focusing his rage on the leader as she makes a hasty decision to not take one girl, but all the prisoners, soon forced to blast
their way back into the open world. "Rogue" scrambles the view with absurd shaky-cam cinematography (Bassett's not one to create organically
suspenseful moments), but it has something with the set piece, which soon takes to trucks as the mercenaries speed toward a rendezvous point,
eventually diving into a river to get away from Zalaam's forces. There's big action and adventure, and the screenplay makes sure to reinforce the
horrors of the animal kingdom in the first 25 minutes. Unfortunately, such wild energy is largely abandoned for the rest of "Rogue," which settles
down with Samantha as she assesses the situation inside the lion camp, with long dialogue exchanges permitting viewers to understand character
backstories and enjoy dull banter with the generic supporting cast.
Ammo is in short supply and help isn't going to arrive until dawn, leaving Samantha at the mercy of the roving lioness, who appears only
intermittently in "Rogue," realized with atrocious visual effects that turn one of the primary threats of the picture into a PlayStation 1 creation. It's a
lion attack movie that doesn't have the cash to create a believable lion attack, making one wonder what Bassett was thinking when she pushed the
project through the system (with 17 credited producers, it's also a wonder why more money wasn't allocated to decent CGI efforts). Without any
fear factor, "Rogue" can't go "Jaws," leaving the bulk of the endeavor to shoot-outs between the warring sides, and such violence isn't sold with any
particular urgency from Fox, who's wildly miscast as a seasoned military warrior.
The AVC encoded image (2.39:1 aspect ratio) presentation brings viewers into the heat of Africa, with the opening act of "Rogue" offering more
saturated colors to keep up with style demands and sell the natural wonder of the setting. Greenery is vivid, along with golden sunlight. Skintones are
natural. Lion farm action takes place at night, offering bright lighting sources and deep red bloodshed. Delineation remains communicative with evening
action. Detail is sharp, doing well with facial surfaces and textured mercenary gear. Distances are precise. Terrible CGI is easily spotted due to such
clarity. Some mild banding is detected.
The 5.1 DTS-HD MA mix provides clear dialogue exchanges, which involve a lot of in-the-moment banter and heavy accents. Scoring is supportive with
satisfactory instrumentation, with some percussive thump and surround presence. Sound effects are alert, offering sharp gunfire that utilizes some
separation and panning in the surrounds. Explosions are weirdly underwhelming, emerging without expected emphasis.
Commentary #1 features co-writer/director M.J. Bassett, co-writer/actress Isabel Bassett, and actor Philip Winchester.
Commentary #2 features M.J. Bassett.
Cast Interviews (48:38, HD) collect conversations with Megan Fox, Philip Winchester, Sisanda Henna, Greg Kriek, and Isabel
Bassett. The interviews are conducted on-set, eliminating any interesting post mortem analysis of "Rogue." Topics include a rehashing of the plot,
character beats, co-stars, and suspiciously bright praise of the South African locations (for a film that criticizes the country). There's nothing here of
value, but it's interesting to see how tired everyone is, with Fox and Bassett barely staying awake as they go into used car salesperson mode.
"Rogue" doesn't create any tension as the story juggles predators, with Bassett making a mistake to open the feature with sustained action, unable to
match the first act with anything as grand in the rest of the film. "Rogue" tries to get things going with political complications and "who's the real
terrorist?" questioning, only to close with a sudden statement about the lion farm situation in South Africa. The production doesn't know exactly what it
wants to say, throttling pace and diminishing excitement, eschewing a basic level of enjoyable B-movie simplicity (lioness devours all) to make an
actioner that settles into an extended nap after a boisterous introduction.
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For the week that ended on September 12th, Warner Home Entertainment's Superman: Man of Tomorrow took at the number-one spot on the Blu-ray-only and overall package-media sales charts. This latest superhero adventure from Warner and DC Animated, Man of Tomorrow ...
Lionsgate Home Entertainment will distribute on Blu-ray M.J. Bassett's action thriller Rogue (2020), starring Megan Fox, Philip Winchester, Calli Taylor, Jessica Sutton, and Adam Deacon. The release will be available for purchase on September 1.
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