Edison (script) "On the page, Edison is a strong film, an impressive piece of work that was bound to attract some big names and get a green light. Fortunate enough to get hold of the directing reigns, David Burke now holds the fate of his first big project in his own hands. If he's as competent a director as he is a screenwriter, keep an eye on his career. Hopefully, whatever he does next, he continues writing..." (full review)
Ella Enchanted "If you really enjoyed "Shrek," there might be a glimmer of entertainment awaiting you in "Ella Enchanted." A lousy, dreary knock-off, based on a popular children's book, "Ella" is only saved by star Anne Hathaway's charms. But even that can only deflect the stupidity and creative bankruptcy the film is soaked in for short periods of time..." (full review)
"The phrase "guilty pleasure" was made for a movie like Ella Enchanted. This fractured fairy tale is so unapologetically goofy and high-spirited that it's easy to give in to its unusual charm. Take a medieval version of Cinderella, cross it with a sort of live-action Shrek, add a few musical renditions of 70's pop hits, and you'll have some idea of what to expect from this fun family film..." (full review)
The Alamo "What the new take on "The Alamo" has in its favor is historical reverence and some terrific performances from the cast. This mixture of "Saving Private Ryan" grittiness and (bloodless) violence with "Pearl Harbor" cartoonish villains and historical sweep is easier to digest than John Wayne's nutty 1960 epic take on this event. The drama can get a little pokey at times, and you won't believe how they depict Santa Anna, but the "The Alamo" is a solid historical epic..." (full review)
The Girl Next Door "Overall, I would definitely recommend this movie to fans of John Hughes' 80s teen comedies, anyone who appreciates a creative twist on a number of chartered territories and anyone who isn't offended by swearing, sexual frivolousness or the deeper recesses of actual teen angst, insecurity and horniness. Needless to say, I could relate on all counts because I'm still a teen...in my jeans! "Show that shit!"..." (full review)
"Mindhunters" by 'Kaisersoze' There are two major warning signs that a studio has produced a significant turkey of a film, and is not only aware of this fact, but is desperately trying to keep the inevitable negative word of mouth from spreading for as along as possible. The first of these signs is that critics are not permitted to see the film before widespread release, and the second is that the release date keeps getting shifted further and further back - so that it dangles like the proverbial carrot inches beyond the grasp of an increasingly frustrated public. Renny Harlin's Mindhunters has yet to reach the point where critics may or may not be permitted to see it ahead of the masses, but it's certainly had enough release date delays in the last nine months to warrant the "Gobble gobble" of warning bells for most.
So it's more than a little surprising that the film, whilst far from a cinematic masterpiece, is actually quite enjoyable in its own sick and twisted way. Effectively a thriller, Mindhunters borrows from several genres (including action and horror) as it depicts the story of a group of young FBI serial killer profilers sent off to an isolated island for their final training exercise before graduation. Among the trainees are J.D Reston (Christian Slater), Lucas Harper (Jonny Lee "Trainspotting" Miller) and Sara Moore (Kathryn Morris). The agent responsible for training the profilers, Jake Harris (Val Kilmer) is known for his unorthodox methods - which apparently does not include scaring the trainees half to death with his hideous hairstyle - and is under some kind of review. Enter everybody's favourite rapper turned actor (snigger), LL Cool J. He plays Officer Gabe Jenkins, who accompanies the young team to observe what Harris puts them through and then report back to his superiors regarding whether the off-the-wall instructor should be suspended. Or something like that. The details are left vague enough that you know Gabe has more up his sleeve than he's letting on, but the big question that soon arises is whether he's actually a killer.
For quicker than you can say "Don't touch that dodgily placed item, it could be a cunningly concealed death trap!", the exercise our trainees have been placed upon turns very real. Instead of hunting a make believe serial killer called The Puppeteer amongst the island's abandoned military installations, the profilers are summarily dispatched one-by-one by a real murderer. Soon enough they begin to suspect that the killer is someone within their ranks, which leads to the inevitable bout of bowel-clenching paranoia, with the majority of suspicion falling upon the only outsider. Gabe.
It's all been done before, of course. And much better too. However there's a certain atmosphere to Mindhunters that falls a significant degree short of being frightening, but nevertheless manages to maintain interest throughout. A large part of this can be attributed to the interesting death scenes that have more in common with last year's Final Destination 2 than a typical serial killer movie. All manner of complex set ups are involved in the deaths and Harlin, working with a script by Wayne Kramer and Kevin Brodbin, isn't afraid to show a fair amount of the red stuff as each meets their grizzly end. Also lending to the film is the use of a largely recognisable cast that is given something approximating equal screen time, so it's not altogether clear - at least until the final reel - who is going to live and die.
Harlin may seem a strange choice for a film of this calibre, noted as he is for his flamboyant, kinetic style utilised most effectively in films like Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, and even, to a lesser degree, Deep Blue Sea. And whilst it is during the film's fight scenes (yes, there are the requisite one or two) that Harlin seems most at home, the Finnish director still manages to weave a satisfying amount of tension out of the many scenes in which the characters are searching for the next deadly boobytrap. The production values, score and editing are all standard for a feature of this kind with none of these components drawing undue attention to themselves for a stellar or inadequate effort.
Be aware, though, that an intelligent thriller along the lines of The Usual Suspects, Mindhunters is not. Instead it is little more than a pop-corn aide punctuated by moments of enjoyable gore. The plot-holes, whilst not large enough to drive a truck through, could certainly use some stitching around the seams, and the ending is far too convenient to provide any real satisfaction. The characters are far stupider than I pray any FBI-profiler could ever be, and the acting here is what you'd expect from a thriller that periodically crosses genres into action and horror. Whilst the faces may be memorable, the acting is not, with none worse than Mr Cool J himself. (I mean, really, what is it with rappers that think they can act?? I guess I shouldn't complain, by comparison, DMX makes LL look like a worthy recipient of one of those little golden statues.)
None of this, however, explains why the distributor have stuck Mindhunters time and again on the backburner, so that even now it hovers uncertainly around a June 4th release date. Maybe it's due to what I proudly call "The D-Tox Phenomenon". You remember D-Tox right? The one with Sylvester Stallone as a cop on the edge who goes to a retreat for other cops on the edge to an isolated military-like building in the snow, only for them to be picked off one at a time by an insane serial killer from his past?? No? Well that's because it went straight to video shelves where it died a lonely death and put one last nail in the coffin of poor ol' Sly's career. Let us hope that Mindhunters fails to do the same for Renny Harlin because this film is certainly better than some of the other brain-dead reprehensible genre films that have been released in recent times and a hundred times better than D-Tox.
3 Kaisered Stars for "Mindhunters".
