Image Courtesy of Amazon.com
Director:
Renny Harlin
Cast:
Eion Bailey……….Bobby Whitman
Clifton Collins Jr……….Vince Sherman
Will Kemp……….Rafe Perry
Val Kilmer……….Jake Harris
Jonny Lee Miller……….Lucas Harper
Kathryn Morris……….Sara Moore
Christian Slater……….J.D. Reston
LL Cool J……….Gabe Jensen
Patricia Velasquez……….Nicole Willis
Cassandra Bell……….Jen
The Movie
Some movies take years to get into theatres. First Blood went through a gamut of producers, directors and stars attached to it before Sylvester Stallone made John Rambo into an American icon. And during the summer of 2003 the trailer for Mindhunters popped out, attached to X-Men 2. And in 2004 it appeared before Spider-Man 2. Needless to say, Mindhunters was stuck in a cinematic purgatory, trapped between post-production and release. The fact that after being on the backburner for so long that it wasn’t just simply released direct to video is something unique, I have to say.
And for the first hour or so this movie is quite special in both its’ quality and tone. Mindhunters follows seven FBI profilers (Eion Bailey, Clifton Collins Jr, Will Kemp, Kathryn Morris, Christian Slater, Jonny Lee Miller and Patricia Velasquez) and local police officer Gabe Jensen (LL Cool J) who are dropped into a special assignment by their evaluator Jake Harris (Val Kilmer) to profile a serial killer. It’s all fun and games until the profilers themselves start dying for real as it becomes a race to find the killer among them as the body count accumulates. And for the first two acts of the movie it is a deep, gripping thriller.
Too bad that the quality of the final third of the movie doesn’t match the sort of intensity the first 2/3 has. In the quest to keep the identity of the killer a mystery, Renny Harlin invents elaborate plot devices to keep the mystery alive much to the detriment of the movie. In order to keep the “whodunit” factor alive more and more elaborate ways of deception are needed when they are clearly not warranted. This overdose continues with the way each continuing character dies. It is too elaborate, too choreographed for one person to be able to do without a background group of 20 people to help the killer pull it off; it’s too exaggerated. The amount of time and effort needed to set up the sorts of traps the profilers fall into are of such elaborate design and specificity to the particular profilers that the amount of time needed on screen to set them up is unrealistic.
The traps, though, are quite impressive. While the way in which they are devised and used requires much more than the one person to pull off, they are quite inventive in how they do their given function. Each manner of death aligned up for the designated profiler plays in line with their personality flaws, which is pretty inventive. From death by cigarettes to a rather unique way a gun can fire (as it were), the way in which the principles die requires a lot of thought. This isn’t a standard thriller where people die in a moderately creative way. Each time someone dies the manner in which they die follows their personality flaws. It’s brilliant to a certain degree.
While the characters aren’t developed beyond a short description of their flaw, they don’t need to be. While it would’ve made a better movie to have them developed into more three dimensional types it would’ve put a damper on the marvelous pace and cinematic timing Harlin is able to pull off. Harlin’s timing and ability to move the story in a methodical, yet entertaining, pace is top notch. There is never a dull moment; while the theatrics of making sure we don’t know who the killer is are disrupting on occasion to the plot they don’t knock the pace off track.
Mindhunters is a movie that does a lot of good and a moderate amount of bad to total a good, but not great, movie.
Score: 7.5 / 10
The Video
Presented with a 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio, Mindhunters looks gritty and fabulous at the same time.
The Audio
Scored with a Dolby 5.1 Surround sound, the sound of Mindhunters comes through loud and clear. With an understated and solidly scored soundtrack, it comes through very well.
The Extras:
Profiling Mindhunters is a featurette about the film. Running eight minutes, it is a fluff piece about various aspects of the movie. Nothing deep or wholly intriguing; it’s just a guided tour through the film and various aspects of the production.
Stunt Sequence is a featurette on the final action sequence between LL Cool J and Jonny Lee Miller. Featuring Harlin, Miller and LL, it follows the sequence on how they designed it, what inspired it, and the actors talking about the aspects it involved. Running around four minutes, it’s a brief but interesting look at how they created one of 2005’s best action sequences.
A Director’s Walk through Crimetown is a short featurette about the island used for the film. Nothing wholly original or interesting.
Commentary by director Renny Harlin
Score : 7.5 / 10
