| We watch crap so you don't have to! |
| Mungles on Movies |
|
 |
|
Untraceable
In theaters January 25th 2008
grisly violence and torture, and some language
Run Time: 100 min
Matt's rating - 3.5 out of 5
Cindy's rating - 4 out of 5
==========================================
Review by Matt Mungle
Live by technology. Die by technology. Any of us who
wrap our lives and work around computers
understand that theory. We have all been burned by
the crashing of our system just before we hit the save
button and our hours of hard work are gone forever.
And what did we do before the internet? How did we
ever find directions or information? Show times, ticket
sales, eBay, Amazon, DVD rentals etc. For many of
you, simply reading this review is possible only by the
World Wide Web. Needless to say it has made our
lives simpler. But what of the negative? What about
that voyeuristic door that has opened up for all of us to
see and hear everything ever imaginable? It has fed
our craving for carnage and desensitized our shock
meter. There is a passage in the book of Revelations
which says, "And for three and a half days, all peoples,
tribes, languages, and nations will come to stare at
their bodies." 20 years ago the notion that everyone
everywhere could witness the same thing at the same
time was inconceivable. But is it now? We are a
society that must experience it all. We must see it.
Feel it. Live it. And to what end?
The new psychotic film Untraceable touches on this
subject in a cat and mouse crime thriller. Jennifer
Marsh (Diane Lane) is a single mom by day and FBI
agent by night. Her task is discovering and busting
internet predators, scam artists, hackers and thieves.
Her world is truly web wide. When she gets a tip about
a website streaming live coverage of murder victims it
is a race against the clock for her, agent Griffin Dowd
(Colin Hanks) and Detective Eric Box (Billy Burke) to
save each new victim. Plus, the killer is using
society's curiosity as an accomplice. The more
viewers his site receives, the faster the death of his
victim. This adds an eerie twist in the fact that the
numbers go up, even with human life at stake.
I liked this movie in the fact that although there are plot
holes and gray areas the characters and direction
make up for them allowing for a thrilling movie
experience. Though not in the league of Silence of the
Lambs there are elements of it present in this film.
They also borrowed from the box of tricks you would
find in the SAW series. Add to this a killer who could
have easily had the last name Bates and you get the
makings of a top notch, skin crawling, stomach
turning crime flick. Owen Reilly (Joseph Cross) is a
perfect killer. His soft spoken demeanor and average
Joe next door features add to the creep factor of his
character. The ensemble cast fits nicely. No one
stands out as unbelievable. As mentioned there are
holes in this story like any piece of fiction. When
dealing with technology you can always make it do
what ever is needed to fit the storyline. But that is the
fun of it. We deal with the foreshadowing and obvious
details in order to experience the ride.
Untraceable is rated R for grisly violence and torture,
and some language. Though not as gruesome as
SAW it still has moments of prolonged violent images
and the twisted mind of a serial killer. The gore is at a
minimum and not overdone. The language too is
tame for R Rated films and is not thrown around
gratuitously. Mentally this film is grand in the way it
shines a light on our society and where we are
heading as a culture. Our need to see things and the
lack of regard for human suffering when compared to
rationalizations of freedom. We think we deserve to be
able to experience whatever we want, and still be
immune from repercussion. I never thought about it
much until seeing this film. Then driving to work today
the news anchor on the radio was talking about a
terrible crime caught on tape and was quick to add,
with a shine in her voice, "and you can see a clip of
this tape on our website". I give Untraceable 3.5
out
of 5 webcams. It is a strong film in this genre and one
of the better thrillers of late.
============================================================
Matt and Cindy are members of the North Texas
Film
Critics Association (NTFCA). For additional
reviews
and interview clips visit the website.
|
Mungleshow Productions
Matt Mungle
|
|
|
|
|