Son of a Gun - Blu-ray

Movie: When nineteen-year-old JR (Brenton Thwaites) is sent to prison for six months, he quickly learns that there's a desperate need for a guardian angel here, lest he be constantly beaten up or raped. Fortunately, the boy finds such a guardian angel in powerful gangster Brandon Lynch (Ewan McGregor). But, of course, protection from the other tough guys isn't free. In return, JR must help break Brandon out of jail after his release. The spectacular escape attempt actually succeeds - but that doesn't settle JR's debt by a long shot. Because he still has to support Brandon and his boys in a particularly lucrative robbery. Too late he realizes that he has long since become a pawn in a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse, with far more at stake than just money...

Son of a Gun starts off like a hard-hitting prison thriller, with an oppressive atmosphere and some pretty tough moments. Although at first it's hard to take away Ewan McGregor's tough gangster persona, as a viewer you're quickly drawn into the action. You can relate to JR's fear and understand why he immediately gets involved in being protected by Brandon - even though he knows he will have to pay a high price for it. The gritty prison atmosphere then gives way to the no-frills look of a classic heist movie once JR has helped break Lynch out of prison. Now not only does the mood change, but so does the pace of the film.

Director Julius Avery not only manages to make the two different parts of the story fit together coherently. He also knows very well how to build up a tense atmosphere that is allowed to discharge itself again and again in very earthy, handmade action. In doing so, he refrains from overdrawing his characters, which gives the film a very authentic feel, despite a few small holes in the logic. And in this, Ewan McGregor as a heavyweight scarred by life in prison comes across as absolutely believable.

Avery weaves the budding romance between JR and the opaque Tasha (Alicia Vikander) coherently into the thriller plot. Sure, the film would have worked without the romance. But it gives JR a motive that makes his actions in the second half of the film more believable and Brandon an even bigger threat. So, in the end, the love story actually helps to add to the tension of the film.

Sure, this Australian action thriller truly doesn't reinvent the wheel. The story feels familiar and some characters are already drawn in an arguably clichéd manner. What makes the film, however, is that it is staged rather old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, but seems absolutely contemporary, especially in terms of action. The good lead actors, the slightly dirty look and the exciting story also contribute to the fact that this home cinema premiere has become absolutely worth seeing for fans of exciting gangster thrillers.

Picture + Sound: The picture of the Blu-Ray is absolutely clean and has a very good overall sharpness, which also brings out smaller details well even in dark scenes. The color scheme feels very atmospheric, but this does help to accentuate the slightly dirty look of the film. The DTS-HD 5.1 mix provides a real amount of movement on the surround channels, especially during the prison break and other action-heavy scenes, but at the same time transports the dialogue out of the speakers with good intelligibility. Good!

Extras: As a bonus, in addition to some extensive promo interviews (approx. 90 min.) with the director and his actors, there is also a decent look behind the scenes (approx. 29:13 min.), which consists of uncommented B-Roll material. Unfortunately, there are no subtitle options to go with the extras.

Conclusion:Son of a Gun is a gripping mix of prison, gangster and action thriller that scores points with good lead actors, hand-crafted action and an exciting story. The Blu-ray presents the film in good picture and sound quality. The bonus material offers a look behind the scenes and some very detailed promo interviews. Recommended

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp