Mindhunters (2004) Reviews

• Surprisingly Entertaining

  Antagonisten2004-11-20

  Knowing Renny Harlin's track record, you never know what to expect from the Finnish director. It seems it's more or less random which of his films turn out to be crap or really quite good. I didn't know what to expect here, and maybe my low expectations were part of the reason why i found this film to be surprisingly entertaining. The setup is pretty standard-fare for a serial-killer film. What makes this different is the victims. They are FBI-agents in training to become profilers. Their teacher is Jake Harris (Val Kilmer) who likes to use special methods while training his agents. As a test the profilers-to-be are sent out to an army training facility on a desolate island. A small town is built on the island and the morning after their arrival a murder will have happened in the town, their job is to find the killer. Something goes wrong however and it seems the game has become real, a killer really is on the loose and now he's chasing them. To say that this story is unbelievable and forced is an understatement. The whole set-up with an abandoned island feels a bit cheap, a lame excuse to get the agents alone in a place from which there is no escape. But if you can accept that particular bit of plot then the rest is not bad at all. The atmosphere is well built and the suspense is thick. Also most of the actors do a pretty good job creating that "anyone-could-be-guilty"-feeling. So, even though the serial-killer thing has been done a thousand times and even though the set-up here is even less believable than usual, this is still an enjoyable experience. It might not be revolutionary, and it might not be something you'll remember for very long. But if you like this kind of movie you will at least be entertained for as long as it lasts. I rate it 6/10.

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• One of the best of its kind.

  Kazum2004-06-17

  No Spoilers Ahead I saw the movie last night in the "sneak preview". I had no idea what kind of movie it was, except for the genre "thriller". Thriller is not right. It is more a "Thriller/Psycho/Horror Movie" Most of the movie you had no time to get breath. It has a really good atmosphere and good actors. You never know what will happen next and you are really shocked the whole time. Thats what my experience with that movie was, but i have to say that i did not know anything about the content of the movie, i did not see one trailer of it and i read no comment of it before watching it. I have to admit, that there are several parts which are not logic or seems to be not logic, but it doesn't destroy the atmosphere, because you have no time to think about it during watching the movie. I would not watch it a second time, because the shocking effects would not work anymore, but i give this movie 7 points. By the way: there are really morbid and cruel scene's in it, i hadn't expected that. I can't understand "illegal alien51"'s comment. I liked it! ( I hope my English is not so bad, because i am not used to write or speak English a lot )

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• Plot twists that make no logical sense doom a pedestrian take on Agatha Christie

  dbborroughs2005-06-03

  There were seven FBI profilers in the bed and the psychotic one said roll over roll over so they all rolled over and one dropped dead... This is the story of a class of FBI profilers in training who are dropped on an island to do their "final exam". The work of a serial killer will be enacted and they will have to catch him. The trouble is that someone- perhaps one of their own- is taking them out one by one. Directed with little sign of his occasional skill by Renny Harlin this is a remake of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. Its purely "by the book" direction and could have been put together by any reasonably talented director. Its reasonably acted by the cast which includes Christian Slater, Val Kilmer and LL Cool J. Unfortunately this movie makes zero sense from its opening moments to its final fade out. There is simply no real internal logic to drive the story and so it simply becomes an okay time waster. How illogical is it? There are so many to choose from, but the easiest to explain is when one of the characters is brushing her teeth in a bathroom. She is looking in the mirror. Suddenly she turns around to find a dead cat hanging from the ceiling behind her. How it got there is never explained. She was in a room, all alone and suddenly this thing just appears. I was willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt up until that point, after all it had barely gotten started, but at that point I was more interested just getting to the end so I'd know who was behind it all (at least you do want to know who the killer is, I'll give it points for that). If you like serial killer flicks and want to see them all or if you have a high tolerance for low quality thrillers give it a shot, it does have its moments, but over all this is not really something to sit down and watch. My guess this is the perfect film to catch on a commercial station while you're doing other things, after all that way you can blame any plot problems on the cutting for content and your attention to your other task. four or five out of ten.

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• does what it's supposed to

  lix2004-01-21

  I found Mindhunters to be a thoroughly entertaining movie that did have some good surprises and moments. The story is as original as it could be, although, one can argue that the whole group in isolation getting picked off one by one thing has been done before. I will not give away too much of the movie so that you can be surprised at the twists that it offers, except I must make one comment. Why on earth do they let LL Cool J have some of the most ridiculously stupid one liners. I mean, if he wants to be bought as a believable actor, he needs to put an end to this madness. I am sure you will know what I am talking about when you see the movie. Anyway, I give it 8 out of 10 and a definite check it out if you enjoy thrillers... especially ones with gruesome killers.

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• It has it flaws but it's better than a lot of other stuff out there

  martine-122004-10-30

  I've read comments pointing out that this movie has ripped a lot of ideas from other movies and that there are situations that are so over the top that they get silly. To that I say; Sure, why not? It's still entertaining. I agree that they could have used the cast differently and that some of the plot points are quite unbelievable but on the whole it doesn't distract from the tension and the setting of the movie. The profilers sometimes act pretty stupid and out of character but the actors do a very decent job portraying them and Renny Harlin has actually done a really good job with the directing. If you want a horror/thriller/action flick where you keep guessing pretty much to the end and don't mind recognizing bits and pieces from other movies then this is for you. Well worth a watch (no pun intended).

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