Thanks for checking out our Untraceable Review. If you’d like to see the video version of the review, just go to the bottom of the post.
I still remember first hearing about the premise behind Untraceable. A guy who uses the popularity of the internet and humanity’s voyeuristic nature to kill people. The idea sounded like a bad gimmick just trying to capitalize on the pop cultures new fascination with Facebook, Youtube, Myspace ect. ect. ect., thus I didn’t have much hope for fhe film.
THE BASIC IDEA
Diane Lane plays an FBI agent who works in the Syber Crimes devision… busting kiddie porn peddlers, online scammers and identity theives. One day she is given a tip about a website live streaming the murder of a kitten. When Lane tries to find out where the stream is coming from, she runs into roadblock after roadblock and finally realizes the perpetrator is… are you ready for this… UNTRACEABLE! (dun dun duuunnnnn!). Lane is told to move on to another case since it was just the death of a cat, but when the website starts capturing PEOPLE for death, using internet traffic (the number of people visiting the site to watch someone die) to quicken the death of those held captive, the case is raised to top priority. You see, the website’s traffic monitor is directly tied into the death machines the victims are in. The more visitors, the faster they die. You can see why the idea seemed like a cheap gimmick to me.
THE GOOD
What I thought was going to be the major weakness of the film actually turned out to be one of it’s strongest points. THE STORY. This isn’t just some random killing spree. The plot behind the killer(s) motivation is actually pretty believable and makes for good storytelling. The crimes are methodical, there are very few loopholes (if any) in the movie (which is rare for thriller films like this) and the characters are likable and seem more real than your traditional line up.
I’ve never been a fan of Colin Hanks. To me, he’s a spoiled kid who was handed the keys to the kingdom based strictly on who his father is (Tom Hanks). Never once in his career has he impressed me… until now. Hanks gives probably the best performance of the film (and that’s saying a lot considering Diane Lane is in the movie). He’s developed as an actor, and his character (the side kick to Lane’s character) brings most of the comic relief and also keeps the film grounded in the sense of reality, since his character is the one we can probably all identify with the most in the film.
The “Saw” like traps in the film are great. They’re not just “gross”, they’re actually scary. You feel yourself squirming in your seat and a couple of them are quite horrific. But unlike recent films like Saw 3 or 4, or Hostel 2, the horror of those death scenes aren’t just there for the sake of itself. Rather, as the story unfolds, you start to understand what is going on in the mind of the killer and why he’s doing what he’s doing. By the time the film was over, the film hit me as being quite smart that way.
THE BAD
Oh my dear sweet lord. Do any of you remember a while ago when I wrote an article called “The 8 Things I’m Sick Of Seeing In Movies“? Well, this film has no less than 4 of those over done cliches. I won’t mention which ones they are since that would be a spoiler, but after you see the film you’ll know exactly which ones I’m talking about.
In any mystery type film, you need to have the clues there so that the audience can try to figure out them mystery right along with the hero. Untraceable blows it totally on this level. There is no way, even in hindsight, that you could have solved the mystery, because almost none of the facts are given to you until the hero discovers them and solves the mystery at the same time. It’s not that I SHOULD have been able to figure it out… but at least make it so that I see I COULD have solved it. Instead, the mystery solution is just handed to us.
One of he biggest weaknesses of the film is that it reveals the bad guy FAR too early in the film. Up to that point, the movie was a mystery/crime solving film… but after it gives everything away, it tries to switch gears into a cop action film motif, which doesn’t work and gives the film a little bit of an identity crisis.
OVERALL
A mediocre film with some bad decisions, an over use of bad hollywood movie cliches and a reveal done far too early in the film, is just saved by a great performance by Colin Hanks, a creative plot and legitimately scary moments. Untraceable ends up being a film that was a LOT better than I was expecting it to be… but also one I’ll forget about by next week. So, better than it looks, but still nothing to write home about. Overall I give Untraceable a 5/10.
YOU CAN WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION OF THE REVIEW HERE:
