Because he got no role in the fourth Matrix movie, Hugo Weaving enjoyed some time on his hands. This led to a part in a different sci-fi flick, 2022’s Expired.

Set in Hong Kong circa an unspecified future, an assassin named Jack (Ryan Kwanten) meets nightclub singer April (Jillian Nguyen). As he becomes smitten and pursues her, he encounters complications as his physical health starts to seriously decline.

In response to this challenge, Jack finds Doctor Bergman (Weaving), a “life extension” specialist, and he seeks answers. While this risk to his survival endures, Jack deals with revelations from his past and his attempts to muster a relationship with April.

At the start of Expired, we get an immediate Blade Runner vibe. Though this begins for production design/visual reasons, the influence of Ridley Scott’s 1982 classic becomes more obvious as Expired progresses.

A hitman who eventually questions aspects of his own existence and a preordained mortality… sounds kinda familiar, doesn’t it? Well, if you’re gonna steal, you might as well steal from the best.

Unfortunately, Expired never becomes one-tenth as interesting as its inspiration. Little more than a slow, tedious riff on the earlier movie’s themes, this becomes a difficult ride.

And by “difficult”, I mean “exceedingly boring”. While a better-made version of this narrative would develop its characters and themes in an intriguing manner as we await the Big Reveal, Expired finds almost literally nothing compelling to sustain the viewer.

Instead, we get stuck with a moody, atmospheric tale that lacks any real depth. Characters mope and speak in ponderous tones but they never convey anything to become interesting or make us invest in the journey.

This means a sluggish journey that fails to deliver more than barebones information about the participants. About 80 minutes into Expired, we finally get some insights, but these seem both blindingly obvious and also too little, too late.

Expired pours on cheap symbolism, and that means the aforementioned Big Reveal feels predictable and trite. This becomes a particular problem because it seems clear the filmmakers hope the Big Reveal will make us forget the boredom of the prior 80 minutes.

Nope. Little more than a slow, faux intellectual character journey, little about Expired succeeds.

Expired appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This turned into a positive presentation.

Sharpness worked fine. The occasional slightly soft wider shot emerged, but I felt the majority of the movie offered nice clarity.

No issues with jaggies or moiré effects materialized, and edge haloes were absent. Source flaws failed to become a factor here.

In terms of palette, Mortal went with a stylized look. In an unsurprising move, the film emphasized teal to a substantial degree, with some reds, purples and ambers tossed in as well. Those tones seemed positive and well-rendered.

Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows showed good delineation. Overall, the image looked fine, as it accurately reproduced the source.

When I examined the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Expired, I thought it was moderately active and involving, as the mix used music and atmosphere to nice advantage. These elements created a good sense of place and movement that brought us an engaging soundscape, with the best material found in the smattering of action sequences.

Audio quality was fine. Speech was reasonably crisp and natural, and effects showed good punch.

Music was also clear and full. The soundtrack didn’t excel but it connected with the story in an appropriate manner.

In addition to the film’s trailer, we get a featurette called The Making of Expired. It runs 15 minutes, 56 seconds and offers comments from actors Ryan Kwanten, Jillian Nguyen, and Hugo Weaving.

“Making” looks at story/characters, shooting in Hong Kong and the work of writer/director Ivan Sen. Only minor insights emerge in this lackluster program.

If you want to watch 103 minutes of mopey mopes who mope around Hong Kong, then Expired will delight you. If you want a smart, insightful character piece, this Blade Runner imitator will leave you cold. The Blu-ray brings very good picture and audio along with minor bonus materials. In more competent hands, this might’ve become a decent movie, but as executed here, Expired turns into a chore to watch.