Why So Blu?

Last Looks (Blu-ray Review)

Charlie Waldo (Charlie Hunnam) is an ex-LAPD superstar who left the force and now lives a life of simplicity and solitude deep in the woods. Alistair Pinch (Mel Gibson) is an eccentric actor who spends his days drunk on the set of his TV show. When Pinch’s wife is found dead, he is the prime suspect and Waldo is convinced to come out of retirement to investigate what happened. The case finds Waldo contending with gangsters, Hollywood executives and pre-school teachers, all in pursuit of clearing Pinch’s name … or confirming his guilt. Last Looks is now available on Blu-ray!

 

Film 

Last Looks spins the story of former LAPD officer, Charlie Waldo (Charlie Hunnam) who left the force to essentially live under the grid in the wilderness of Idyllwild, California. When thespian Alistair Pinch (Mel Gibson) is accused of murder, Waldo’s services are required to find out what really happened in this twisted case of whodunnit.

I had no clue what Last Looks was, or if it was a thing. I was surprised to see that it was based on a novel (there are three novels now) written by Howard Michael Gould, who also wrote the screenplay.  The film takes place all over Southern California, which is super fun being that I am from Southern California and know most of the cities showcased in the film.

Seeing Charlie Hunnam as Waldo is fun due to his low-key eccentricities. He left the LAPD to live his days with only 100 items in his total possession in a rundown trailer home out in Idyllwild. His ex-squeeze played Morena Baccarin comes back into his life to draft him for a potentially dangerous but lucrative assignment. Mel Gibson as the uber-wealthy but alcoholic Alistair Pinch is hilarious. His highbrow accent is quite hilarious.

Last Looks works well as a quirky caper, because each character introduced is some sort of character, with their own story and eccentricity. It’s seems to be reflective of it being a story from Los Angeles, where folks are not just your everyday type-of-people. Being eccentric is a revolving theme and seems to be the name of the game, which works in terms of the film’s context. It’s by no means a grating characteristic, which it could have easily become one.

I see that Charlie Hunnam was also a producer of the film and give him props for recognizing the potential taken from the novel and now to the moving picture. I hope we see more adventures from Charlie Waldo in the future, because Last Looks was pretty cool.

 

Video  

Resolution: 1080p

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Clarity/Detail: Being that this film is a more “sunny” neo-noir film, the Blu-ray looks clear and detailed. Contrast and sharpness levels are spot on, with no obvious signs of post-production tweaking or messing about.

Depth: The level of depth on this Blu-ray is incredible, especially involving the scenes taking place in Idyllwild.

Black Levels: Black levels are deep, inky, and free of crush.

Color Reproduction: The color palette was rich and vibrant and showcased the glitz and grunge of Southern California.

Flesh Tones: Flesh tones were nice and natural. You can see just about every other person in the film have this “sun-kissed” glow to them – the California sun being very good to the already great looking cast.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

 

Audio 

Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD MA 5.1

Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French

Dynamics: Last Looks is punctuated with several scenes of action packed violence, all which sound terrific, via this lossless DTS 5.1 soundtrack. I keep saying it, the Blu-rays being produced by RLJE have some of the best and most consistent technical specifications when it comes to audio and video — Last Looks is no different.

Low Frequency Extension: The LFE subwoofer channel packs in some low-end damage on all of the scenes requiring some added low frequency bass depth.

Surround Sound Presentation: The surround sound channels do their job well by handling all of the ambient sounds in the rear stage, along with some of the scenes involving shoot-outs, fights, and all sorts of randomness.

Dialogue Reproduction: Dialogue is clean, clear, and concise. I was able to understand what our cast was saying without any problems.

 

Extras 

Last Looks has only one special features and it’s a short EPK featurette on the making of the film, with the stars of the movie. It’s fine, but it’s the only extra on the Blu-ray.

• The Making of Last Looks

 

Summary 

I had no idea what Last Looks had to offer but was pleasantly surprised at how much fun I had watching the film and knowing there are a couple of novels out there featuring our “hero” Charlie Waldo. I have some future reading to do. Last Looks on Blu-ray looked and sounded terrific. Even without substantial special features Last Looks on Blu-ray is given a hearty recommendation!

 

 

 

Last Looks is now available

on Blu-ray!

ORDER NOW!

 

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