ATONEMENT (2007) (Blu-ray)

Director Joe Wright re-teams with Keira Knightley for an adaptation of Ian McEwan's 2001 novel, a story that traverses a good portion of the 20th Century as it explores the devastating impact caused by rash decisions and the costs associated.

The film opens in Summer 1935 at the Tallis estate as the family prepares for the return of eldest child Leon accompanied by his friend Paul (Benedict Cumberbatch). A young teenage Briony (Saoirse Ronan) is writing a play for the occasion and subjects her cousins, a girl about her age and two younger twin boys who are staying because their parents are going through a divorce, to rehearse it. Recently returned from college are Briony's older sister, Cecilia (Knightley) and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), the son of the Tallis' housekeeper (Brenda Blethyn). Turner's fees were paid by the Tallis patriarch and will continue to be as Robbie heads off to medical school.

Briony notices uneasiness between Cecilia and Robbie. From the house, she only can see an incident at the fountain where Cecilia took off some clothing in front of Robbie and jumped in. Later, Robbie asks Briony to deliver a note to Cecilia. Naturally, the curious teen reads it and is shocked to find Robbie's sexual desires as well as his word choices.

Wright jumps back in the narrative, revealing events so the audience becomes more privy than Briony to the true relationship between Cecilia and Robbie. We see and hear their exchange at the fountain and learn what caused Cecilia to jump in. We see Robbie sent the wrong letter. The true nature of their relationship is made clear so the audience isn't as surprised by Cecilia and Robbie having sex in the library as Briony is when she stumbles upon them.

During Leon's dinner, the twins are discovered to have run away and the meal is put on hold as everyone searches for him on the estate. Making her way through the darkness, Briony is startled by a man running off as he leaves behind cousin Lola (Juno Temple) who has been raped. Lola can't identify the man, saying her eyes were covered, but with what Briony has witnessed recently she is certain it was Robbie. She informs her mother and the police that she saw Robbie rape Lola and uses his letter to Cecilia as an example of his depravity. Although he marches in triumphant with the twins in two, he is promptly arrested.

The story moves ahead to 1940. Robbie is a private in the British army, as prisoners were allowed out to serve. He and fellow soldiers from his unit are in France heading to Dunkirk to be evacuated. Both Cecilia and Briony (played at this age by Romola Garai) are serving as nurses in London, though Cecilia ignores Briony's requests to see her. While talking with her friend Fiona, a flashback shows an incident between Briony and Robbie that better clarifies their relationship and her actions.

Briony goes to Cecilia's apartment where she begs forgiveness of her sister and Robbie. As the couple's anger briefly quells, they demand Briony inform the family and the authorities.

The story leaps again to 1999 where Briony (played at this age by Vanessa Redgrave) is a successful author being interviewed about her latest novel, Atonement. Because of illness, she states it will be her last but points out it really is her first novel as she has been working on it for ages. With the book she hopes, as inadequately as it will be, to make up for the years of heartache and pain she caused those closest to her and to herself.

Wright and team have created a marvelous film in Atonement. Of course it helps to have good source material in McEwan's novel, which was adapted by Christopher Hampton. What's so captivating about the story is the slow revelations of plot and character. Just when you think you have it figured out, it takes sharp turn in direction yet never loses the audience. The talented cast, particularly the leads, bring to life the characters and they come across as real people. Wright gets extra points for an exquisite and no doubt difficult-to-obtain tracking shot that lasts about six minutes, which follows Robbie and his comrades as they navigate through the madness of the Dunkirk beach as drunken soldiers sing and horses are put down.

The video is given an 1080p/VC-1 encoded transfer presented at an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. Seamus McGarvey's cinematography masterfully captures the beautifully decorated Tallis estate and the filth and grime of Europe under siege. Very fine details are on display in the image. For example, when Robbie types Cecilia a letter of apology, the close-up reveals the textures of the typewriter ribbon and paper, including the indentations created by the typing of the letters. Outdoor shots deliver the same clarity in grains of dirt road and rock walls. There are moments when the light from sunshine gets too bright.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround audio track delivers an immersive world whether in the quiet rooms of the manor or on the raucous fields of war. Sounds move through the channels as buses on the street and airplanes overhead pass by. Dario Marianelli's score is very dramatic at times, including the use of a typewriter in the arrangement, and swells to punctuate scenes. Quiet sounds can be made out just fine, such as a buzzing bee, but some of the softer-spoken dialogue is hard to make out.

Features include a commentary track with Wright; deleted scenes (8 min) also with commentary by Wright; "Bringing the Past to Life: The Making of Atonement" (27 min), which is self-explanatory from its title as is "From Novel to Screen: Adapting a Classic" (5 min).

Atonement starts out as a tragic love story in the vein of Merchant Ivory films but expands its scope not just by following the characters as the ramifications of Briony's actions are revealed but also by exploring forgiveness, from others and granting to oneself. The themes are thought provoking in a film well executed.

WANTED (2008) (Blu-ray)

Timur Bekmambetov’s Wanted is simply stunning. And it has to be, because if the viewers aren’t stunned by the frenetically paced action and loud soundtrack, they will see how utterly stupid the story is.

Loosely based on the Top Cow comic book series written by Mark Millar and drawn by J. G. Jones, which had a terrific story that the movie foolishly deviates from, Wanted tells the tale of Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy), a loser who’s aware of what is wrong in his life, but does nothing about it. He has a crappy job with a domineering boss and his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend, yet Wesley refuses to make any changes and accepts what fate has to offer him. So, fate comes along in the form of Fox (Angelina Jolie), who appears out of the blue to rescue Wesley from Cross, the man Wesley is told who killed his long-lost father and is now trying to kill him.

After a store shootout and a ridiculous chase sequence that loses all suspense due to the obvious CG work, Wesley is brought by Fox to meet Sloan (Morgan Freeman), the current leader of The Fraternity, a 1000-year-old organization of assassins. Wesley learns that his father was one of their members, which is why he left when Wesley was very young. The Fraternity wants Wesley to go after Cross because Wesley has his father’s gifts but needs to train in many areas first. Wesley needs time to decide, as if there was ever any doubt of which path he would choose.

Another of many false notes is when Wesley is training to manipulate bullets to move around objects. He is having trouble and then Fox offers to risk her life by taking part. Lo and behold, he completes the task.

When Wesley is ready for his first mission, his victim, as with all victims of The Fraternity, is determined by the incorrect stitching of an electric loom, which creates a binary code that spells out names. Eventually Wesley goes after Cross, which provides the viewer with the “great” twist of the story, although considering how many movies have already been cribbed from by this point, it’s not much of a surprise. Plus, once the truth is revealed it causes the previous behavior of some characters to be forced and unbelievable.

To be fair, there could be other reasons the movie is so flawed, like maybe the crew purposely created something so horrible out of spite because they have such contempt for the type of person who enjoys a movie where the plot doesn’t get in the way of the gunfire and explosions. One example to prove this point is the scene of Fox’s origin. She tells a story about a little girl whose father was a judge. He was working a trial involving some bad people who sent a killer to his home. The killer then burned initials into the girl’s neck so she would never forget. Fox never says she was the little girl, but as she turns away to ensure the audience gets it through their thick skulls, Bekmambetov offers a close-up of (dun dun dun) her neck scarred with initials. Gasp!

However, this same scene also ties in with the possibility that the crew suffers from group self-loathing and are all trying to undermine their careers by creating such a terrible movie because at no other time do we see the scars. Is it really possible that this major continuity error slipped by the screenwriters, the director, the producers, the script supervisor, the camera crew, the editors, the make-up people, and even the actors?

I am willing to concede the possibility that the intention of the scene was Fox trying to trick Wesley, but then he looks like an idiot for not having noticed that she only had the scars during that one moment. I could go on and on with the script problems, but I shouldn’t spend more time on the plot than the writers did.

On the plus side for those who don’t care about story and logic, Wanted has some great-looking Matrix-esque visual effects, especially the opening sequence and the shot of a character jumping through a glass window and the pieces slowly falling away from his body. Unfortunately, the effects go so far over the top at times that not only do they defy physics but all sense of danger for the characters as well. They should have just created an action reel instead of trying to couch the scenes in this ridiculous movie.

Those effects and the film as a whole look very good in High Definition Widescreen 2.35:1. There is a lot of great detail, from the carving on a CG bullet to strands of Jolie’s hair moving in slow motion. However, overuse of CG, like rats, takes the viewer out of the moment. The colors have a great dynamic range and are well rendered from black to white, especially the brightness of Fox’s cherry-red Dodge Viper. It pops off the screen.

The audio is presented in English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. It has a hip, booming soundtrack with a score by Danny Elfman and Nine Inch Nails’ “Every Day is Exactly the Same.” The bass is overmodulated at times, causing distortion through the speakers and subwoofer. Surprisingly in a movie so focused on action, the dialogue is well balanced in the mix.

Blu-ray offers U-Control, which allows access to picture-in-picture commentary track (and a fantastic option which allows one to have ability to alter the PiP volume), motion comics that match the scene on screen with narration and sound effects or that can be viewed separately, assassin profiles, and a scene explorer to see the movie from three different perspectives.

Other features included are the usual Alternate Opening, Extended Scene, and interviews of the cast. Because of all the hard work behind the camera, the disc offers a good amount of behind-the-scenes features for those that want to learn how the movie was made: “Stunts on the L Train,” “Special Effects: The Art of the Impossible,” “Groundbreaking [according to them] Visual Effects: From Imagination to Execution,” “The Origins of Wanted: Bringing the Graphic Novel to Life,” “Through the Eyes of Visionary [it’s never a good sign if they have to tell you he is] Director Timur Bekmambetov.

There is also “Making of Wanted: The Game,” which is likely an ancillary product that helped sell the movie. The disc even offers a secret unlockable code (01001111) for the game to unlock Super Weapons.

When all was said and done, I wanted back the time I wasted watching this mess and quickly listed it for sale.