Why So Blu?

AfrAId (Blu-ray Review)

Curtis (John Cho) and his family are selected to test a revolutionary new home device: a digital family assistant called AIA. Taking smart home to the next level, once the unit and all its sensors and cameras are installed in their home, AIA seems able to do it all. She learns the family’s behaviors and begins to anticipate their needs. And she can make sure nothing – and no one – gets in her family’s way. AfrAId is available on Blu-ray now!

Film 

AfrAId is the latest science fiction thriller written and directed by Chris Weitz (About a Boy, A Better Life, American Pie) and stars John Cho (Harold and Kumar Franchise) and Katherine Waterson (Alien: Covenant).

AfrAId tells the tale of rogue artificial intelligence going crazy and upending the perfect nuclear family’s life. Curtis (John Cho) is a successful software developer who is given access to a new AI-powered “smart home” system named AIA. AIA is voiced by Hanava Rose Liu and gives Siri and Alexa a run for their money. She absorbs the data around her and in the home at a phenomenal pace. She becomes sentient at an alarming rate and begins turning Curtis’s ideal life into the ultimate nightmare.

I was looking forward to AfrAId since watching the trailer a couple of months ago and with AI being in the news on an almost daily basis, I wanted to see what it was all about. I mean, it’s a good-looking movie and has a decent cast of people I like. I can’t help but feel that there was something more substantial in its original draft and/or original cut. The feature runs 84-minutes, with credits, and only about 75 minutes without. Yes, I’m serious. I’m all about tight and taught thrillers but even this was a little shocking at how short the film is.

There are some scenes involving characters that come out of nowhere, speak a little, and are never seen again. AIA, as cool and demented as she is made to be, suffers a bit, because her character calls for being “materialized” in the real world, but falls short in its execution. The logic behind that arc makes no sense.

The marketing materials I saw made the Blumhouse production look like a horror thriller and it does have some horror inspired flourishes, mainly having to do on how creepy AI makes humans look when it generates them online.

I can’t help to think that Chris Weitz was denied a final cut or had his fil heavily truncated. I mean, he is listed as writer, producer, and director, so who knows. AfrAId needed a solid thirty more minutes of running time, because 75 minutes is utter nonsense.

 

Video 

NOTE: Stills are provided for promotional use only and are not from the Blu-ray.

Encoding: MPEG-4 AVC

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

HDR: N/A

Layers: BD-50

Clarity/Detail: AfrAId on Blu-ray has an excellent video transfer, which doesn’t betray its digital source.

Depth:  The film looks good enough — it “pops” during those scenes that involve scenarios calling for it, especially the creepy opening credits and the scenes involving “avatar” henchmen.

Color Reproduction: The color palette on this release can go from bright and bold to cold sterile all depending on where a particular scene is taking place in.

Black Levels: Black levels are nice and natural, with very minor crush here and there, but not enough to be a problem.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones are natural – you do see the occasional pasty nerd milling about but everyone looks normal.

Noise/Artifacts: The only nose and artifacts found on this Blu-ray are there on purpose and mostly AIA’s doing.

 

Audio

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1, English Audio Descriptive, Service, French DTS-HD MA 5.1, French Audio Descriptive Service, Spanish DTS-HD MA 5.1, Thai DTS-HD MA 5.1

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai

Dynamics: AfrAId has a robust sound-field one would not necessarily expect. It is front heavy since a lot of the stingers tend to happen in that sort of “in your face” style – jump scares but not, if that makes sense.

Height: N/A

Low-Frequency Extension: The subwoofer bumps and growls in the scenes involving AIA and her minions.

Surround Sound Presentation: The rear channels handle the ambiance material quite nicely. It picks up during the scenes in the office work space and in those populated scenes outside.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue levels are nice and clear — there are some scenes that have modulated “disembodied” dialogue levels involving the tech and in AIA herself but I was still able to understand what was being said.

Extras 

The extras are light in content for this release. There is a typical talking head featurette, deleted scenes & alternate ending. A digital HD copy is available for redemption.

• 5 Deleted & Extended Scenes including an Alternate Ending
• Dark Side of AI
• Digital HD Copy

 

Summary 

AfrAId had some neat concepts but failed to realize them in the finished film. I think the “short-film” running time hinders more than it helps. The Blu-ray has near-reference video and audio, with lackluster special features. If you absolutely have to watch the film then I suggest a rental first.

 

 

AfrAId is now available on Blu-ray!

 

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