Reviewed by Johnny McNair

Fox Home Entertainment – 133 minutes – 2010 – Rated PG-13 – 1080p Widescreen 2.35:1 – DTS Lossless 5.1 Audio Mix – Digital Copy

“Greed is Good,” a line that dominated the late 80’s and early 90’s, until the mighty Wall Street crumbled and reality hit us all hard. Oliver Stones 1987 film Wall Street showed us how a mixture of decadence and arrogance was a lethal formula that only leads down to a path of corruption. Michael Douglas’ iconic character Gordon Gekko became to Wall Street wannabees, what Scarface is to the Hip Hop community, a true role model to look up to. Twenty-three years later, Mr. Stone has decided to revisit the financial world with the follow-up, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, now available on Blu-ray from 20^th Century Fox. Was the nearly quarter century wait worth it, or should the original vision just remained in an 80’s time capsule where it was safe?

THE MOVIE

Money Never Sleeps follows anti-hero Gordon Geekko (Michael Douglas) as he is released from a long prison stay based on the insider trading events from the first movie. The world is very different, and as he says “Greed is now not only good…it’s legal” A man like Gekko can’t be kept down for long, so he obviously needs a way to claw back to his thrown. In walks Jake Moore (Shia LeBeouf), a next generation Wall Street player who also happens to be engaged to Gekko’s daughter Winnie Gekko (Carey Mulligan).

Unlike the Bud Fox character played by Charlie Sheen in the first film, Jake is not a bad boy, and instead wants to make a contribution to the world by putting money into green natural power sources. He’s also is mourning the loss of his mentor Louis Zabel (Frank Langella), who has taken his own life as a result of his company taking a major financial hit. Jake learns that Zabel’s death may have been a result of a devious plan by the CEO of a rival company named Bretton James (Josh Brolin), because he blocked their government bailout. Now he wants revenge against Bretton and the only person he can turn to is our man Gekko, even if that means being screwed over in the end.

The main problem with Money Never Sleeps is that you are never immersed with anything that’s going on. Oliver Stone is a master at his craft who had the world engaged with the Kennedy assassination in 1991’s JFK, but for some reason he goes soft when tackling the corruption that goes on in the present day financial world. The biggest issue with the film is the casting of Shia LaBeouf. Sure he’s fine when working with CGI robots, but here he looks like a little boy wearing his father’s suit. It’s very hard to take him seriously even when you should be rooting for him. The only person less believable is Carey Mulligan, who is just pouting during all her screen time. The so-called relationship side story between her and Gekko is lame, and in many ways comes off laughable.

Douglas is doing all he can to regain his footing with the Gekko character, but he’s never allowed to be unleashed, and instead his role looks like a glorified cameo. Josh Brolin seems to be the only established character, because we know who this guy is and what he wants…He’s one of the assholes who caused us to be in this recession, and he’s still smiling. He’s not as confident as Gekko was in the original film, but when Brolin is on screen he clobbers everyone around him. It would have been more interesting if Shia LaBeouf’s character was eliminated all together, and the story just focused on pitting Gordon Gekko against Bretton James, in a old hustler vs. new hustler battle for Wall Street supremacy.

Basically, the sequel to Wall Street is a letdown that makes you wondered why they even bothered in the first place. Now they’ve shaken the solid status of the original by connecting this one to it. You know there’s a problem when the best moment of the movie is a cameo by Charlie Sheen, and after it’s over you wish that he would come back. Bud Fox, we miss you.

VIDEO

Thankfully this film looks good on Blu-ray, offering a full 1080p image in a 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Photographed by Rodrigo Prieto, who also shot Ang Lee’s Lust caution, the film has a stylized look that reminiscent of the classic dramas of the 70’s. Skin tones look great and colors are strong when needed. Blacks are solid, with limited grain, but there are maybe one too many soft filter shots, especially in scenes involving Carey Mulligan that could have been toned down. Overall, this is a well-done transfer that will satisfy.

SOUND

This Blu-ray delivers a Dolby DTS-HD 5.1 audio mix that brings the hustle and bustle of Wall Street and New York City to life. Rear speakers are nicely balanced to immerse you in the ambience of crowded locations without overdoing it. Dialogue sounds solid allowing you to hear every beat in Douglas’ classic voice. No gunshots and explosions here, but everything fits nicely.

EXTRAS

This two disc set actually offers a decent amount of bonus material, including a director’s commentary track from Stone, and a Digital Copy.

Oliver Stone delivers a solid solo audio commentary track, going into many aspects of the production.

Money, Money, Money: The Rise and Fall of Wall Street is one of the better features offered, running about an hour and divided into sections that talk about both the original 80’s Wall Street, as well as the current conditions that lead to the current recession. Interesting stuff.

A Conversation with Oliver Stone and the Cast of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps is exactly as it sounds. The fifteen-minute session is a talkfest with Stone, Labeouf, Brolin, Douglas and Mulligan discussing their perspective of the film.

There’s a whopping thirty-minutes of deleted and extended scenes. A few are interested, but overall you’ll see why they were removed.

A Digital Copy is included for all you Wall Street players on the go.

BOTTOM LINE

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps will leave a lot of people disappointed, but if you always wanted to know what ever happened to Gordon Gekko this may be either your dream…or nightmare. The Blu-ray does have a great picture, solid soundtrack and a good batch of bonus material. If you didn’t see this one in theaters, it’s recommended that you give this a rental first before deciding to sell your stock. Greed is good, but not all the time.

SCORES (Out of 5):

The Movie: 2.5

Video: 4.0

Sound: 4.0

Extras: 3.5

Bottom Line: 3.0