Love Hurts - 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray

When you’ve got fists and feet flying furiously, do you actually need a plot? When you’ve got knives and boba tea straws impaling people, do you really need good performances from your secondary characters? If you've got fountains of blood and visceral action setups, does it matter if your two leads have less than zero onscreen chemistry? The answer for those questions should be "yes." However, those elements aren't really a priority for Love Hurts, from director Jonathan Eusebio. Oscar-winner Ke Huy Quan brings an infectious energy and charm to this action/comedy thriller, but some severe miscasting and a mumble-jumble nonsensical cliched messy plot upends a lot of the fun we should otherwise be having. 

On cliches within cliches, former assassin Marvin Gable (Ky Huy Quan) is out of the killing living but is making a killing in real estate. Putting away the guns and knives, his life is peaceful until his brother Alvin (Daniel Wu) tracks him down. Trying to find the millions Marvin’s supposed-to-be-dead ex-girlfriend Rose (Ariana DeBose) stole, Alvin will send an army of killers after Marvin just when he’s trying to close another sale. But Rose has her own designs for revenge, and Marvin is the key to her plans.

I don’t like to take down simple-fun action movies, but as I’ve had to endure a number of them recently, Love Hurts catches me when my energy is depleted and my will is weak. What could have just been a fun and simple romantic action comedy becomes a somewhat numbing experience as we wait for the next action scene to start. Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, and Luke Passmore are the credited screenwriters, but honestly, the notion that this film was “written” is debatable. It’s a stunt show. That’s it. It’s nothing but great, thrilling, entertaining, and sometimes hilarious action sequences strung together with a haphazardly woven plot that barely makes sense. You’ll give yourself an embolism if you think too hard about the story mechanics. 

Normally, “not thinking” about a fun action movie is fine and good, but everything else needs to stand up to their side of the bargain. To that post, I give credit to Ke Huy Quan for delivering a charming, fully engaging Jackie Chan-style performance. He’s silly, he’s entertaining, and when needed can let the action extravaganza fists fly. Mustafa Shakir is another fun standout as The Raven, a moody, brooding assassin who writes deep personal poetry between stabbings. 

Ariana DeBose is the severely miscast lynchpin of this venture as Quan’s supposed past-lover assassin thief. Like her time in Kraven, she just doesn’t stick the landing, looking far out of her depth in the role as a lethal assassin. By extension, her character’s arc and love connection to the significantly older Quan is just as unbelievably absurd. Marshawn Lynch and Andre Eriksen are a fun dynamic as a pair of partner assassins but their shtick also gets old very quickly. Sadly, Daniel Wu gets sidelined for most of the film’s swift 83-minute playtime until the very end for an action sequence you barely care about. On the guest spots, Drew Scott has a humorous moment, and Rhys Darby drops in for a funny but unnecessary bit part. At least we get a mini-Goonies reunion with Sean Astin stopping by as Quan’s Boss!

So of the slate of bad action movies I’ve endured in recent weeks, Love Hurts isn’t the worst, but it’s not amazing either. Ke Huy Quan’s energy and the stunt show action sequences are what make the film worth passing the time. And thankfully, it doesn’t take a lot of time out of your day! It’s wrapping things up at the time an average movie is just about to kick into the third act. But because it’s over and done with so fast with a been-there-done-that plot that barely registers with a parade of stock characters, the film isn’t very memorable. Ke Huy Quan is a great onscreen personality, and he can hold his own in the big action sequences, so let's hope his next venture is a little more rewarding. 

Vital Disc Stats: The 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray 
Love Hurts slips onto physical media a skimpy two months after its theatrical release for a two-disc 4K UHD + Blu-ray + Digital release. The 4K is pressed on a BD66 disc with a BD50 serving the 1080p. Bonus features are on both discs. The discs are housed in a standard black case with identical Slipcover Art.

While the film itself might not be the best, I have to hand it to the 2160p 2.00:1 Dolby Vision transfer for delivering a visually effective action flick. Where I’ll give credit to the stunt team for Love Hurts is that you can actually see and appreciate most of the fisticuff action. Even in the tight quarters of a kitchen, the takes are long enough, letting full movements and sequences fly without too many quick-cutting edits to mask for excitement. This lets us fully enjoy the scene when we can see our cast actually pull off the moves. To that end, the visuals hold tight. Facial features, clothing textures, small details in the locations, and a notable stabbing with a boba tea straw all hold up nicely. You can even get down to the nitty-gritty details of some artfully forged folded steel blades. Colors are bright and bold with big primary energy. Skin tones are healthy and human without looking peached or pinked. Black levels are nice and tight for most of the film, lending some impressive depth to these action sequences. Where the transfer can falter is in some of the CGI antics, and reshoot backgrounds stand out like a sore thumb. Those increasingly common blurry, nondescript middle-distance backgrounds really look like crap in higher resolution. But that’s my only nitpick.

Keeping pace with the visuals is a visceral Dolby Atmos mix that really pulls you right into the middle of the action. The best parts of the film are obviously the action sequences, letting all of the impacts, gunshots, and other sounds of mayhem stand out. The surround spread is exciting as we have multiple combatants crashing through any given location on screen. Height channels are also well appointed, letting the thundering impacts and flying debris deliver some pinpoint-specific kicks. Again, because of all the gunfire, punches, kicks, and neck-breaking impacts, the LFE offers plenty of rumble in the subs throughout. All told, this is a fun Atmos track that gives it all up for the big action beats.

Bonus features for Love Hurts aren’t on the plentiful or illuminating side of the coin. We get an alternate ending, some quick deleted and extended scenes, and a couple of brief making-of featurettes. The pieces focusing on how they pulled off the action scenes are well worth the time. The deleted/extended scenes aren’t much to worry about since they don't add any new wrinkles to the characters or plot. 

• Alternate Ending (HD 1:54)
• Deleted & Extended Scenes (HD 6:54 Total 8 Scenes)
• The Ke to Gable (HD 3:33)
• The Heart of Love Hurts (HD 7:34)
• Stunts Hurt (HD 10:37)

The action scenes save Love Hurts as a watchable endeavor. Whether or not it’s a memorable one once the credits roll will be subjective. I thought Ke Huy Quan was a great reluctant action hero leading man. The humor was engaging, and the stunts were thrilling, but some odd casting choices and a been-there plot upends a lot of the hard-felt effort. On 4K, the film looks great with a healthy Dolby Vision transfer and sounds fantastic with an exciting Atmos audio track. Bonus features offer some insights at the action and stunts, but not much else. Love Hurts is one of those flicks worth seeing once, but it likely won’t hold for repeat viewings. Worth A Look