‘This Means War’ Blu-ray Review
This Means War is now available on Blu-ray and DVD. This Means War stars Reese Witherspoon as Lauren, a woman who accidentally finds herself dating two men FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy). The kicker is that the two men are coworkers and best friends. Did I mention they also work as spies for the CIA? Yes, all of that.
This Means War tries to be a comedy. It has all of the elements, Reese Witherspoon and Chelsea Handler, as her best friend. Even Chris Pine and Tom Hardy are not bad as comedic actors. However, in order to ramp up the tired premise, it throws in the twist about the men being CIA agents. Unfortunately, that job is a bit too serious for a comedy. How funny is it when a really bad guy is trying to kill your girlfriend? Not much. It was also hard to take the men seriously at their job when they were acting too juvenile in their love lives. In the end, This Means War just became a mess. I realized at a certain point that I was not even sure if I was rooting for either “boyfriend” to win.
Although I love just about everything Reese Witherspoon is in, and Chris Pine was very easy to look at, This Means War just fell flat. With the way the men behaved, I believe the Alternate Ending #2 contained in the bonus materials would have been the more appropriate ending. Sadly, the director went with the conventional one.
In addition to the Blu-ray version, This Means War also contains a regular DVD version, as well as a digital copy that is perfect for watching while traveling. The Blu-ray version is in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, AVC @24 MBPS, 50 GB Dual Layer, and Widescreen 2.40:1.
The Blu-ray also contains extras and bonus materials:
Deleted Scenes – The scenes could be watched with optional commentary by the director. I chose to watch the scenes with the commentary to see if I agreed with the director’s decision to delete the scenes. It was a bit distracting to miss most of the scenes while listening to the director, however, I did discover that I tended to agree with him. There were a total of six deleted scenes. The only one I truly enjoyed was Jonas’ funeral and not for any plot advancement, but for the stunning visuals used.
Alternate Endings – There are three alternate endings that also have the option of having director commentary as well. This time I chose to not exercise that option. The first alternate ending was the most interesting, but a bit dark for the movie. The last one was ridiculous, but more in keeping with the ludicrous plot as discussed above.
Uncensored Gag Reel – Mostly the actors laughing for no apparent reason. Isn’t that always the case? The only saving grace is Chelsea Handler. That woman is truly funny.
Alternate Opening Concept – This was done in Previz, which is like an animated cartoon draw up. It became confusing to me because I couldn’t figure out who was who. It was about 8 minutes long.
As I indicated above, This Means War did not deliver. I have watched many comedy/love stories and find that the same material is repeated. However, this time the repeat did not have the proper execution. Now, if you are merely looking for a few laughs and some eye candy, then This Means War is for you.
