Untraceable
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Movie Reviews of Untraceable
Movie Review: Solid Critique, Pretty Good Film
Summary: 3 Stars
It's undeniable that "Untraceable" is a criticism of America's attraction to torture-porn, both in the theatres and (slightly more repulsive) on the Internet. However, this movie has been accused of actually being torture-porn itself, and is more often than not compared to gore-fests such as the Saw series or the awful Eli Roth's Hostel movies. However, in simply watching this movie, viewers will realize that those specific criticisms are unfounded. "Untraceable" walks a fine line, because it does have to show graphic violence in order to get the message across that graphic violence and seeing people murdered are the sole reason people tune in to these kinds of flicks. There was only one instance where I thought that a violent scene was unnecessary to the movie's message, and that was when they showed a close-up of a man who'd already been killed, so that viewers can get a good look at his fleshless hand. That bit was too much, but other than that, this film successfully avoids becoming that which it condemns, and paints a successful picture of the mind state of those who engage in watching such movies.
Now that I've talked about how it executes the message, let's see how it works as a film. It's no Oscar-winner, nor could it ever be a personal favorite of mine, but I enjoyed it considerably more than I thought I would. It's well directed with surprisingly sophisticated use of color (or lack thereof) that really gave a disturbing mood to the movie. The acting, like the script, was fair, but nothing really jumped out at me, except the performances of both the lead cybercop (played by Diane Lane) and the villain in the climax.
Overall, it's a decent film that has a solid and relevant message. The ending--as in the final scene--is abrupt, a bit cheesy, and sort of hard to swallow, but it's so quick that it doesn't mess up what the movie, as a whole, does. Don't listen to unfounded accusations that this is torture-porn--as the most passionate critic of the horrid genre I've met, I'd know if it was--because what it really is best likened to is a particularly good episode of "Law and Order."
6/10
Movie Review: Tense enough, but stretches credibility
Summary: 3 Stars
Once again, we are given a movie in which the homicidal maniac is a true master puppeteer, pulling all the strings and knowing FAR more about what's going on than the brilliant and intuitive police following him.
In UNTRACEABLE, the killer ensnares his victims and then subjects them to slow, horrifying deaths that only pick up in pace the more that people tune in to his web site. This implicates the viewing public in the murders...see! The movie implies that upwards of 14 million people from around the US (the rest of the world is blocked) would eagerly log on to such a site within seconds just to watch a stranger die a horrible, graphic death. Unfortunately, the movie is not interested in exploring the implications of this...it's really just a device to make a standard thriller seem more cutting edge. Roger Ebert, in his review, said he did not doubt for one second that people would tune in to see this site. In my heart, I hope that isn't true...that a plea to help save these lives might be heard.
Anyway, my main criticism is that once again the bad guy moves too fast and has too many elaborate (and expensive) devices to actually be credible. Hannibal Lecter had mostly his mind to assist him. Later, he had wealth, but truthfully, he didn't use it much...he used his intellect. In UNTRACEABLE, we have a killer who probably doesn't have a good source of money, but is still able to move with impunity around Portland, setting up elaborate traps, more elaborate surveillance and even more elaborate technology.
If you can get past this, there is a solid thriller here. This is mostly due to the commited performance of Diane Lane as an FBI agent specializing in cyber-policing. Having an actress of her stature lends the film credibility. And all the technological babble (which almost no one would be able to make sense of) gives it a sheen of possibility. But at the end, even Lane has to do some stupid things just to make things too easy for the bad guy.
The movie has several squeamish moments...it occasionally drifts into SAW territory. It has some solid, tense moments as well. No doubt it will entertain...but by no stretch of the imagination is this film more than a cheap thrill.
---see more of my reviews at www.afilmcritic.com
Movie Review: Nice package, could have been better.
Summary: 3 Stars
Diane Lane starts as an FBI cyber-crimes investigator, part of an elite super high-tech unit within the Buerau, dedicated to investigate cyber criminals, where it's of the utmost importance that you catch the perpetrator in the act. She comes across a gritty lady, who still misses her recently deceased husband, and who, along with her daughter and mother is part of a woman-only household, happily managing life.
Things begin to pick up when a site somes up, where torture death is purported to be shown, the catch being that the higher the hit-rate on the website, the faster will be the death. The FBI is clueless about the origins of this site, hence the name of the movie. The throwing-around of tech jargon does unsettle quite a few, but one must admit that the most tech-illiterate would not find the movie hard to follow despite it all. The pace as well as tension is maintained, and the stakes are raised higher, when after successfully experimenting with a cat, the website targets a man.
What follows is some really grisly, and I must add quite imaginative, "online" murder scenes, and some impressive old-fashioned detective work. All in all, "Untraceable" comes across as a grim reminder of the modern day Internet-ophile who survives off the WWW, no matter what is being served. The topic of the general public feeding on the sadistic website is reminscent of the video of an erstwhile famous reporter, whose last moments were also put on the famous Net, and hungrily gobbled down by everyone everywhere (did I hear you say, in the name of curiousity?)
The pace is fine, and the storyline is quite plausible. However, after the criminal is identified, I felt the story became a drag, and was filled with some totally avoidable plot twists.
Nevertheless, recommended for its thrill and action.
My favorite scene: the last scene... "how can i get this video".
Movie Review: intriguing premise overcomes indifferent execution
Summary: 3 Stars
Writers Robert Fyvolent, Mark Brinker and Allison Burnett, along with director Gregory Hoblit ("Fracture"), have come up with a humdinger of a premise for their dark thriller "Untraceable." It seems that a techno-savvy serial killer has set up a website where people can go to watch him torture and murder his victims in real time. The kicker is that the degree and speed of the torture are in direct proportion to the number of viewers logged onto the site, thus making the general public morally complicit in the crimes. The always superb Diane Lane really classes up the joint playing a cyber-cop who is not only hot on the trail of the killer, but might actually be one of his intended targets as well.
The idea for "Untraceable" is probably better than the movie itself, yet, despite its weaknesses, this is a reasonably engrossing and gripping thriller, provided one can stomach the sleaziness of the material and the too-clever-by-half "ironic" ending (the movie is at least more believable in its approach than the similarly-themed "The Condemned"). "Untraceable" certainly has some depressing things to say about our natural human propensity for sadism and voyeurism, and it raises the terrifying prospect that we will now be able to use modern technology as a means of satisfying our bloodlust with total impunity. The movie might have had a sharper moral and ethical edge to it had it featured some common-folk characters debating within and amongst themselves whether or not to log onto the site, knowing that, by doing so, they would be contributing to the death of a fellow human being. But because the writers fail to incorporate such scenes into the screenplay, the premise never gets much beyond the "intriguing idea" stage. Still, the concept is compelling enough on its own to keep "Untraceable" a few steps ahead of the psycho-thriller pack.
Movie Review: (2.5 STARS) Passable Thriller with Diane Lane's Strong Performance
Summary: 3 Stars
I am not quite sure whether or not the plot of this B thriller "Untraceable" is really plausible, where a serial killer sets up a site called KILL WITH ME to show tortures and killings live on interne, but still I can say Diane Lane gives a strong performance for the film as she always does.
Actually, Diane Lane's typically committed performance to give us something credible is amazing, considering how unoriginal her role and other supporting characters really are. Diane Lane plays a FBI agent whose latest job is track down a killer streaming gruesome murders over internet. She has a lovely daughter waiting her at home; her sidekick (played by Colin Hanks) is a techno-savvy guy, and so on. And the way the film ends is very disappointing, which is something so unbelievable and even silly.
Though "Untraceable" deals with cyber crimes, the slow-paced film hardly offers thrill. The film's idea of suspense (if I may call it suspense) heavily relies on torture scenes, but watching defenseless victims and helpless FBI agents soon becomes repetitious. The film certainly tries to be intelligent, telling us something about Cyberspace, but not much. In fact, the film has so many gaping plot holes and incredible events, all of which suggest that it is basically a concoction of ideas borrowed from other films made since "The Silence of the Lambs."
I am not saying I was totally bored while watching "Untraceable," thanks to Diane Lane and capable supporting actors including Billy Burke and Mary Beth Hurt, but for all its use of cyber crimes and the FBI unit fighting them, the film is only a passable crime thriller.