Smokin' Aces (HD DVD)

I saw Smokin' Aces twice in the theater and the second time I enjoyed it far more than I did the first. I am not sure if I was tired the first time or if I was able accept some of the lunacy a little easier the second time around, but for whatever reason it was growing on me. So, when I get the HD DVD in the mail I am thinking either this movie will continue to grow on me or it may just wither away and be forgotten. Unfortunately it really did neither, it sort of stagnated, which probably means I am leaning more toward the withering away scenario, but after taking in everything this disc has to offer, including the two commentaries you begin to grow tired of the whole thing.

Smokin' Aces is a shoot 'em up of the purest form, primarily because virtually everyone gets shot and if they aren't shot they are stabbed, chewed up by a chainsaw and so forth. Truly, this is a guy’s movie, but the girls can find a little flavor in the likes of Taraji Henson and Alicia Keys who actually make up the best of the assassin bunch, which is saying a lot considering you also have the crazed Tremor brothers as everyone is out to get one man, Buddy "Aces" Israel. Wanted by the FBI and being hunted by the mob and a large group of assassins and bounty hunters Buddy is about to turn over everything he knows on Primo Sparazza and holds the key to taking down the notorious mobster. So the clock is ticking as everyone races to Tahoe for the $1 million bounty and Buddy's heart.

My comments in the opening paragraph are not to say that this isn't a good movie, in fact I do enjoy this movie. The only thing I noticed the more I dug into the special features is that there are some serious flaws. First off, I didn't like the ending at all, and I even told director Joe Carnahan when I interviewed him that I would have preferred if he had kept the scripted ending, which actually shows up as a special feature on this disc called the "Cowboy Ending". Granted, it isn't the exact same as the scripted ending, but it is a little better.

The rest of my complaints come from the two commentary tracks, which are great by the way. They are entertaining and informative, but after listening to both and hearing flaws in the film pointed out twice you really do start to notice them more and more. I appreciate the fact that Carnahan doesn't keep his feelings bottled up and says what is on his mind, but that is just how I felt.

As for the HD DVD U-Control feature this one offers up some picture-in-picture stuff and a cute little Assassin Tracker feature, both of which are pretty much worthless. The PIP feature gives you just generic featurette interview type of crap and while Alicia Keys' little spot is sort of cool as is the feature on Chris Pine getting his tattoos is cool but the rest is pretty simple. The Assassin Tracker boils down to annoying after the first time you select it as it offers up nothing all that consequential.

The rest of the features include some character profiles, some decent deleted and extended scenes, a good outtake reel of gags and goofs and a few other featurettes that are short and really not all that great.

Overall I think anyone that loves shoot 'em ups should definitely purchase this as it is certainly a multiple watch movie and you don't want to have to rent it every time. However, don't watch it too much at once like I had to for this review; you can get burned out on it quick.