Jinn - Blu-ray

Movie: Everything is actually going perfectly for car designer Shawn (Dominic Raines): he's happily married to the attractive Jasmine (Serinda Swan) and has just taken a lucrative new job. When Jasmine opens up to him about not being able to have children, the first dark clouds begin to gather over Shawn's life. These darken increasingly when he receives a cryptic video message from his missing father, in which he tells of dark forces against which Shawn would have to fight. Before he can even digest the message, Gabriel (Ray Park) and Father Westhoff (William Atherton) show up claiming to have answers to all his questions. They introduce the confused Shawn to Ali (Faran Tahir), who explains the legend of the Jinn, who Shawn's family has been fighting for generations. Now it's his turn, he says, as the Jinn are becoming more powerful and dangerous. But before he can take up the fight, he must first pass an extremely difficult test...

Jinn by director Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad is certainly not quite great fantasy cinema. The mythology set up here isn't particularly imaginative, the characters remain largely pale, and the story itself repeatedly threatens to bog down in major logic holes. Still, on balance, the whole thing works surprisingly well. With a comparatively low budget, Ahmad has directed a film that in many moments doesn't really look cheap and with its convincing composition of atmospheric music, good camerawork and decent effects can at least fake the impression of a big Hollywood production.

This also allows the film to build up quite an engaging atmosphere, in which some of the weaknesses of the production then increasingly lose their importance. Surely, the acting of the actors or the dialogues don't become really good by this. But the entertainment value is increased by the good and atmospheric visuals. And also the action sequences have a decent show value, which intensifies the pleasure of this Jinn even more. Loose popcorn entertainment is thus definitely offered here despite some weaknesses.

In the end credits it is announced that the Jinn will return soon. Provided that a possible sequel concentrates on the existing strengths of this fantasy production and perhaps takes the fight sequences and special effects up a notch, a really good genre work could come out of this. Because the potential is already clearly there in this first film. Based on the financial and logistical resources that were available to the makers here, the end result is more than solid and definitely makes you want more. Not a masterpiece, but if you like simply knitted fantasy action and don't put too much emphasis on polished dialogue and high acting, you can safely take a look here. Worth seeing!

Picture + Sound: The image of the Blu-ray leaves a consistently positive impression. While many scenes take place in the dark, the image sharpness is still at a pleasantly high level throughout. Colors are powerfully mixed and there's no reason to complain about contrast either. The sound is in a lively DTS HD-MA 5.1 mix that has some really good surround moments to offer, especially in the final third. It's true that the whole thing can't keep up with really big cinema productions. For a smaller fantasy production, however, the audiovisual realization is really neat. Good!

Extras: Except for a picture gallery and some program tips from the provider, the disc has no bonus material to offer.

Conclusion: Jinn is an entertaining fantasy adventure, which has dramaturgically some small hangs, but can convince visually fully. That director Ajmal Zaheer Ahmad had to work with a manageable budget, you do not really notice the film at least in terms of effects, camera work and music. Not quite the big hit, but for an entertaining home cinema evening, the flick offers really good entertainment. On the Blu-ray, the whole thing presents itself in good picture and sound quality, there is unfortunately no bonus material. If you like simple fantasy action and do not attach too much importance to sophisticated dialogue and high acting, you can safely risk a look here. Recommendable

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp