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The Gateway Blu-ray Review

“The Gateway” is saved by the cast.

Directed by Michele Civetta, “The Gateway” is a drama that revolves around a troubled social services worker (Parker) who is haunted by his past. One of his cases involves looking out for the daughter (Ashley) of a screw-up mother (Dahlia), but that household situation becomes further complicated when Dahlia’s criminal lover Mike gets paroled. Upon getting out, Mike steals drugs from the cartel and soon finds himself being trailed by the police. Parker, meanwhile, finds his life unraveling after he is fired. He soon goes rogue and makes it his mission to save Ashley and Dahlia from Mike’s criminal lifestyle.

Written by Michele Civetta, Andrew Levitas, and Alex Felix Bendana, “The Gateway” is a dark, gritty crime drama/character study that clearly tries to evoke the many stories of antiheroes going rogue. Unsurprisingly, this film never reaches the heights of classic antihero tales like “The Shield,” “Taxi Driver,” and so forth. In addition to having a decidedly rushed ending, the grindhouse esque “The Gateway” never digs deep enough into its story and themes to ever quite gel. It may be stylishly directed and engaging, but there’s little in the way of surprises here and the plot is chock full of cliches and clunky coincidences like a phone being tracked and a bus blocking the bad guys and so on. The action also comes off as choppy at points even though it’s nothing short of intense. 

Where “The Gateway” shines is with the cast that is comprised of Shea Whigham, Frank Grillo, Olivia Munn, Keith David, Mark Boone Junior, Taryn Manning, Zach Avery, and Bruce Dern roles. The roles vary in size here, but this is very much Shea Whigham’s movie. The veteran character actor has always been consistent in roles and it’s nice to see him get a starring role that he can sink his teeth into. Truth be told, he’s the best part of this movie and he does more with the character than is probably in the script. Olivia Munn arguably turns in one of her best performances while Bruce Dern is predictably good in a small, but vital role.

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.00:1 1080p. How does it look? Some of the color tones of the cinematography are strange, but the transfer itself is solid.

Audio Track: 5.1 DTS-HD MA. How does it sound? The 5.1 track won’t wow you but it does the job.

The only extras are a Digital copy, “The Gateway” trailer and a “Living Legends: The Cast of Gateway” featurette.

September 5, 2021 - Posted by nicklyons1 | Blu-Ray review | crime drama, Olivia Munn, The Gateway Blu-ray Review