[MOVIE REVIEW] Untraceable
Friday, 22 February 2008 18:00 | Written by Chris Warner | 
Title: Untraceable
{mosgoogle right} Release Date: 01.25.2008
Directed By: Gregory Hoblit
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Screen Gems
Rating: 4 of 10
{mosimage}Untraceable is a film with great potential that falls flat. It revolves around Jennifer Marsh, a widowed mother working in the FBI cyber crimes division. An anonymous tip brings a website called "killwithme.com" to the attention of the division. As the movie progresses, the content of the site becomes increasingly cruel, violent, and disturbing. Various victims are kidnapped and killed by devices, keyed to work based on the number of visitors to the website. More visitors, faster killings.
Untraceable does a decent job of displaying the vulnerability of the main characters, and carries a good aura of paranoia. It emphasizes the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, from cell phones to vehicle computers, and seriously overestimates the amount and type of direct control that a hacker can exert without direct access to the systems he is attacking.
{mosgoogle right}The primary stumbling block in Untraceable is that it does not tell the story of seedy internet sites or the difficulty in pursuing cyber crimes, but instead pits a set of FBI agents against an evil sociopathic criminal mastermind of unparalleled skill and genius. The FBI is foiled at every turn, eventually having one of their own abducted and killed online for his efforts. The real problem with Untraceable is that the writers paint themselves into a corner with the plot. After setting up such a brilliant mastermind, and pitting him against frighteningly ordinary and vulnerable crime-fighters, there are really no reasonable ways of catching him at the end. The ultimate conclusion is contrived, unlikely, and requires that a lot of really smart and careful crimes be followed up by an incredibly stupid one. The movie would be more enjoyable if you turned it off after the fourth murder.
Untraceable offers good camera work, okay acting, and a crummy plot. Worth renting if you don't mind some gore, but not a top-notch production.
{mosgoogle right} Release Date: 01.25.2008
Directed By: Gregory Hoblit
Studio: Columbia Pictures / Screen Gems
Rating: 4 of 10
{mosimage}Untraceable is a film with great potential that falls flat. It revolves around Jennifer Marsh, a widowed mother working in the FBI cyber crimes division. An anonymous tip brings a website called "killwithme.com" to the attention of the division. As the movie progresses, the content of the site becomes increasingly cruel, violent, and disturbing. Various victims are kidnapped and killed by devices, keyed to work based on the number of visitors to the website. More visitors, faster killings.
Untraceable does a decent job of displaying the vulnerability of the main characters, and carries a good aura of paranoia. It emphasizes the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world, from cell phones to vehicle computers, and seriously overestimates the amount and type of direct control that a hacker can exert without direct access to the systems he is attacking.
{mosgoogle right}The primary stumbling block in Untraceable is that it does not tell the story of seedy internet sites or the difficulty in pursuing cyber crimes, but instead pits a set of FBI agents against an evil sociopathic criminal mastermind of unparalleled skill and genius. The FBI is foiled at every turn, eventually having one of their own abducted and killed online for his efforts. The real problem with Untraceable is that the writers paint themselves into a corner with the plot. After setting up such a brilliant mastermind, and pitting him against frighteningly ordinary and vulnerable crime-fighters, there are really no reasonable ways of catching him at the end. The ultimate conclusion is contrived, unlikely, and requires that a lot of really smart and careful crimes be followed up by an incredibly stupid one. The movie would be more enjoyable if you turned it off after the fourth murder.
Untraceable offers good camera work, okay acting, and a crummy plot. Worth renting if you don't mind some gore, but not a top-notch production.
Last Updated (Saturday, 23 February 2008 14:49)
