Ride Along - Blu-ray

Movie: Ben Barber (Kevin Hart) would so love to be a real cop. Then James (Ice Cube), the brother of his girlfriend Angela (Tika Sumpter) would finally respect him. And then nothing would stand in the way of a wedding. Too bad that the school guard has a pretty big mouth, but otherwise not necessarily the best qualifications for the tough job as a cop. When Ben is accepted to the police academy anyway, he sees his big chance coming and he asks James to give him his blessing to marry Angela. But James doesn't know which idea is worse: having to call Ben his brother-in-law or having to know the complete idiot armed on the streets in the police force. He realizes he has to get the ideas out of Ben's head. And the only way to do that is to show him what everyday life as a cop is really like. And so he invites Ben to accompany him on patrol for a day. The plan seems to work, because the first joint operation almost ends in a disaster. But Ben isn't intimidated that easily. And when the unlikely duo suddenly has to deal with the most dangerous gangster in Atlanta, their day together takes an unexpected turn...

With Ride Along, director Tim Story has landed a real surprise hit in the USA. This is despite the fact that the comedy barely has a shred of originality. The story is reminiscent of the typical buddy-cop comedies of the 80s, Ice Cube wears the same annoyed expression with which he has already struggled through Are we there yet? and Kevin Hart is as always - just Kevin Hart. In the USA, where he is also very successful as a stand-up comedian, Kevin Hart has long been a star. In this country you know many of his films like Scary Movie 3 + 4, Almost Married or most recently Two of the Old Stroke, but his name is only known to a few. Whether this will change with Ride Along is questionable. Because even if the action comedy has what it takes to be a hit, the story as well as the actors are just too interchangeable to leave a lasting impression.

Admittedly, the squabbles between the grouchy James and the pain in the ass Ben are sometimes very funny and especially in the last act, the film has some decent action interludes and moments of tension to offer. And Laurence Fishburne also cuts a really good figure as the ice-cold chief villain. But like Ben in his first attempts at the shooting range, the script never really hits the mark. As good as the pacing of the production may be, the template-like characters, the rather thin story and the not particularly clever dialogues always take the wind out of the sails. By the fact that comparisons to much better genre representatives like the Rush Hour movies, Only 48 Hours or the Lethal Weapon series almost impose themselves in many scenes, the weaknesses of Ride Along are further emphasized.

Sure, there are many buddy cop movies that are far less entertaining and have even flatter gags to offer. National Security with Martin Lawrence or Detroit City with Pat Morita and the later Late Night King Jay Leno, for example, really don't belong to the pearls of this popular genre. But just because Tim Story has already shown with Barbershop and even with the rather weak Dank wie ein Mann that he has quite a talent for comedic timing and he has implemented the action in his Fantastic Four films quite appealing, the weak implementation of Ride Along is all the more disappointing.

Who just want to have fun and simply knitted action comedies after Schema F like, but these weaknesses will probably not really bother. After all, the film works really well as simple entertainment to turn off the brain. But if you're not only expecting entertaining action fun, but also really good gags and a not entirely predictable story, or if you're quickly annoyed by the constantly babbling Kevin Hart, you'll soon stop laughing. And that's why there is only one: with small restrictions worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: If there is something about which there is nothing to complain about Ride Along, then that is undoubtedly the technical implementation of the film on the Blu-ray. The picture is absolutely clean and the overall sharpness is at a very good level, especially in the bright moments. The colors are powerfully mixed and the contrasts also leave a positive impression. At the beginning, the sound is not primarily determined by the dialogues and the music, but towards the end, more and more often fast-paced action scenes provide a really good utilization of the surround channels. Good!

Extras: In addition to a significantly weaker alternate ending (approx. 1:42 min.), the disc still has six removed scenes (approx. 8:23 min.), an amusing alternate shot (approx. 1:38 min.) and a funny gag reel (approx. 2:59 min.) to offer. There's also a featurette about the great chemistry between the two leads (approx. 5:16 min.), a very interesting look at the shooting of the film's most explosive scene (approx. 4:50 min.), and another short documentary about the action in the film (approx. 5:08 min.). Good!

Conclusion: Ride Along neither particularly original, nor properly funny. But if you just want to enjoy some good action entertainment with a classic buddy-cop flair, you'll get your money's worth with this hit movie. The Blu-ray presents the film in good picture and sound quality and also has a few decent extras on board. If you want to sweeten the wait for the sequel announced for 2016, you can't miss this disc. For fans absolutely recommendable!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp