Post by Naj on May 13, 2005 10:34:31 GMT -5
MOVIE REVIEW
Mindhunters: FBI trainees on island are the hunted, not hunters
By Phoebe Flowers
Film Writer
Posted May 13 2005
Mindhunters
With: Christian Slater, LL Cool J
Directed by: Renny Harlin
Running time: 106 minutes
Rated R: Violence, graphic images, language, sexual content
If you take its history into consideration, Mindhunters should be one of the worst movies of the year. Actually, make that one of the worst movies of the past three years. That's how long it's been languishing in a vault waiting for a release date. Just how old is this raucous serial-killer thriller? So old that at one point it was scheduled to open against Marci X, a movie most don't remember.
But somehow, someway, Mindhunters has risen above its multiple reshoots, rewrites and re-edits to be a thoroughly compelling suspense film. That doesn't mean it isn't kind of dumb, or largely ridiculous -- it is both -- but here dumb ridiculousness has been elevated to an art form.
While in another movie absurdity might be a problem, in Mindhunters it's the solution. The plot centers on a group of aspiring FBI profilers, taught by a proud lunatic named Harris (Val Kilmer, himself a proud lunatic). They are dumped on a desolate island as a final exam. Inconveniently, it turns out that a vicious serial killer is among them. For no real reason except that it's creepy -- reason enough! -- the island is also filled with vaguely waxlike human figures. Sadly, Paris Hilton does not appear for the sole purpose of being brutally murdered.
The wannabe profilers include nice-guy Lucas (Jonny Lee Miller) and trembly Sara (Kathryn Morris). Christian Slater plays the leader of the team, with his naked backside a crucial co-star. And, most delightfully, rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J is a profiler with the Philadelphia police department who accompanies the feds on the island for ultimately meaningless reasons.
Mindhunters was directed by Renny Harlin, which is a bad thing if you've seen Cutthroat Island and an extremely good one if Deep Blue Sea is instead your point of reference. While this movie does not feature any genius-level sharks -- a plot element that we can probably all agree is rarely out of place -- it retains Deep Blue Sea's unique spirit. That is to say, it is awesome.
Phoebe Flowers can be reached at pflowers@sun-sentinel.com.
{rating poll, photo and trailer at the below site}
review
Mindhunters: FBI trainees on island are the hunted, not hunters
By Phoebe Flowers
Film Writer
Posted May 13 2005
Mindhunters
With: Christian Slater, LL Cool J
Directed by: Renny Harlin
Running time: 106 minutes
Rated R: Violence, graphic images, language, sexual content
If you take its history into consideration, Mindhunters should be one of the worst movies of the year. Actually, make that one of the worst movies of the past three years. That's how long it's been languishing in a vault waiting for a release date. Just how old is this raucous serial-killer thriller? So old that at one point it was scheduled to open against Marci X, a movie most don't remember.
But somehow, someway, Mindhunters has risen above its multiple reshoots, rewrites and re-edits to be a thoroughly compelling suspense film. That doesn't mean it isn't kind of dumb, or largely ridiculous -- it is both -- but here dumb ridiculousness has been elevated to an art form.
While in another movie absurdity might be a problem, in Mindhunters it's the solution. The plot centers on a group of aspiring FBI profilers, taught by a proud lunatic named Harris (Val Kilmer, himself a proud lunatic). They are dumped on a desolate island as a final exam. Inconveniently, it turns out that a vicious serial killer is among them. For no real reason except that it's creepy -- reason enough! -- the island is also filled with vaguely waxlike human figures. Sadly, Paris Hilton does not appear for the sole purpose of being brutally murdered.
The wannabe profilers include nice-guy Lucas (Jonny Lee Miller) and trembly Sara (Kathryn Morris). Christian Slater plays the leader of the team, with his naked backside a crucial co-star. And, most delightfully, rapper-turned-actor LL Cool J is a profiler with the Philadelphia police department who accompanies the feds on the island for ultimately meaningless reasons.
Mindhunters was directed by Renny Harlin, which is a bad thing if you've seen Cutthroat Island and an extremely good one if Deep Blue Sea is instead your point of reference. While this movie does not feature any genius-level sharks -- a plot element that we can probably all agree is rarely out of place -- it retains Deep Blue Sea's unique spirit. That is to say, it is awesome.
Phoebe Flowers can be reached at pflowers@sun-sentinel.com.
{rating poll, photo and trailer at the below site}
review
