Review of Bone Collector, The

Introduction

A slightly different spin on the usual detective story, a slightly different take on the "catch the serial killer before he strikes again" plotline.

The Bone Collector stars Denzel Washington (who rarely appears in a bad film), Angelina Jolie (in one of her earliest big screen roles), Queen Latifah (another rapper enticed by the world of acting) and also Ed O`Neill. Like Chris Cox, I can`t usually see him as any character other than Al Bundy from "Married with Children".

So how does this film fare ?

Video

An excellent 2.35:1 anamorphic transfer is presented here, and it`s very clean and crisp. There are a lot of dark scenes in the film - night scenes and underground scenes - and these come across very well indeed.

There is also a lot of CGI used in the film, but most of it is so good that you won`t spot it whilst watching. If you listen to the commentary track though, the secrets are revealed. More on that later.

Audio

A very good DD5.1 track is on offer, and it certainly adds a lot to the film. Although it is mainly dialogue based, and centred on the centre speaker, there is still quite a lot for your other speakers to do during the film. Quite a few action scenes are enhanced with sound and there is also an excellent original soundtrack which adds to the film. There`s more about this in the commentary track.

There is a dts track available on the region one version of this disc. Whilst it`s a let down that we don`t get it, even a dts advocate like me doesn`t imagine that we`ve lost too much.

Features

Quite a few extras on offer here. First up are a couple of trailers (one for this film, one for a 1995 Denzel Washington film "Devil in a Blue Dress"). There is also the standard "behind the scenes" featurette, which has something to offer, and is above average for this type of feature.

You also get a full length director`s commentary - this ranges from interesting to dull. There`s quite a lot of interesting information (like how much CGI is used in the film), but there are also times when Noyce seems to go off at some tangent for a while. Worth listening to if you`ve enjoyed the film.

The menus (althought I don`t consider them to be extras) are very good, borrowing imagery from the film. Just shows that a little bit of effort goes a long way.

Conclusion

The Bone Collector brings a very tiny amount of something new to the genre. It is just slightly different from the usual formula, and excellent performances from the leads help to keep you involved with the story, and help to keep you away from making comparisons with films that have gone before (although I was thinking of Se7en quite a few times).

Denzel Washington is his usual good self, Jolie puts in an excellent performance too, and even Queen Latifah does very well as Thelma. I almost managed to erase Al Bundy from my mind watching Ed O`Neill, but not quite.

An interesting take on the detective film, plenty to keep you interested, and a good 2 hours worth of entertainment to boot.

Recommended.