Untraceable

2008-Thriller/Mystery

I must have been in a phase a few months back on watching Thrillers and Mysteries due to most of my summer movie viewings. This one was another attempt to find the next 'Silence of the Lambs' 'Seven' or 'Perfect Blue' instead i ended up with 'Eagle Eye' and 'Firewall'.

The same ideas apply. On one side you have a government agency that is too far off to science fiction with billions of dollars worth of technology and techniques to isolate a suburban kid illegally downloading movies online and on the other side, a technological mastermind armed only with a basement full of Fancy looking hardware able to televised his killings online.

The measures from realism to insanely Sci-Fi is constantly crossed without a blink of an eye makes this film feel too much like a preachy sermon about "Don't Download illegally cuz our government is watching you" unless you are that one guy that they somehow cant monitor due to his devious skills as a government trained hacker.

All-in-All:
So far no such luck in the Thriller genre this year. This film falls flat on its face as a dumb attempt for advertising how well the government keeps track online of possible illegal activities. It may work for people that still type with their index fingers and barley know what an e-mail is but to most people its just too far off as unrealistic for a movie that's supposed to take place at current day.

Riko's Rating: D

Eagle Eye

2008-Thriller

I wasn't all that exited to watch this movie to be completely honest. This was the very same film that took "The Dark Knight" off of IMAX after all. With all the Spielberg buzz and Shia LaBeouf hype it was slated as the must see thriller of the summer.

So what happens with a film with all the buzz and endorsements the best of what Hollywood has to offer? How about a mediocre story, predictable plots, and cookie cutter characters? This film takes everything about fear of technology films like 'Space Odyssey' , 'Stealth' and 'Maccross Plus' (Just to name a few) about a sentient computer deciding that humanity is evil and its purpose is to destroy evil. Yea, that's just about it. No surprises there, the only difference is Shia's unique ability of pulling of the 'I don't know whats going on' face that he's known for and his nervous stuttering of words to show the audience how uneasy he is.

All-in-All:
To most 'Thrillers' the audience is expected to bring their brains into the experience and learn whats going on as the film progresses. This is no such film. Is it entertaining? yea, sure. Is it a graphical power house? nope, most of the scenes are covered in darkness and the details are too hard to see. But the main Question that is posed is, was it worth the $10 admission or worth the $19-$35 price for DVD/Blu-Ray? the answer is a "NO" don't waist your time, rent in if you have to but don't waist your time with this unless you want to have another DVD in your collection to collect dust.

Riko's Rating: D