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:
Ever wonder if some Hollywood films degrade society rather than entertain? a film with a number of agendas, an excercise in PSYOPS masquerading as entertainment.
the movie was pretty good. except for the fact that they reveal the killer so soon. everything after that was just trying to get him. the one thing that really disturbed me was the comments (in the movie) that people made.. most of those comments actually promoted to killing people.. i was amazed and shocked.. are there people out there that really think that way? or is it just how the movie is made.. if there were people that think like that… then damn.. what has this world come to
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I enjoyed the movie. It goes to show what human nature will do because of curiosity. Why do you think the show those kind of stories on the news? hum?
I agree with one point in the review that the killer should not have been revealed so early in the movie
I think its a good movie over all. Not a great movie but a good movie to watch again.
This movie has chilling results. And it tells us how messed up us humans really are. I bet this movie relates to next to everyone on this website.
I’VE LIVED IN PORTLAND FOR 30 YEARS. GOOD SCENES FROM PORTLAND, BUT IT IS A VERY FORMULAIC FILM SIMILAR TO THE CRIMINAL MINDS TV SERIES. NOTHING BETTER THAN THAT, SORRY.
Shame I can’t edit my last comment but I agree with ‘Be Afraid!’ on this point:
I saw this film last weekend and thought it was alright. My flatmate enjoyed it, but some people in front of us were seemingly very disappointed. I felt the film didn’t know what it wanted to be, it was lost in between a thriller and a Saw clone. They should have done more with the story and given the viewers some clues, but it would be difficult to introduce the killer…
I really like your site. Keep up the good work.
“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.”
I don’t like the concept neither. And I’m sure such a degrading central idea didn’t help the film’s popularity.
I loved this movie. It was realistic and not to gory. It had a lot sub plots going on for a simple who done it movie. I really like law and order and I thought this was just one big episode of that.
I’ve probably seen every horror which followed “Psycho”, minus a few predictable sequels, of course. None compare to this one. If you enjoy watching extended graphic depictions of people being tortured to death in previously unimagined, unthinkably cruel, and coldly, cynically motivated ways, you won’t be disappointed. The rest of you are likely to spew your popcorn. This is not like most horror movies, with blood spurting and the occasional eyeball going airborne. The death scenes are so disgusting that if you feel good after seeing them, then don’t walk, but run to a professional for help. If the gore alone isn’t enough to make you spray the theatre carpet, the casting is vapid, dull-witted, crude, with unusually ugly actors playing flat, cynical, and often crass characters with the most witless dialogue imaginable by the average eigth grader (but then no self-respecting stars would want this “piece of shit” on their resumes).
This content of the tepid dialogue of this movie’s script indicates that it may have been written by one with money tied up in the RIAA MPAA (the entertainment mafia which made it a crime to do so much as make a backup copy of the movie you PAID FOR, much less share it with your friends. Despite all the shady “legal” actions which these legal thugs have taken against grandmas and children, their still losing money, and now their using the same media which some are stealing from them as propaganda, and that’s why I want a refund. The idea presented is an analogy to file-sharing sites like the Pirate Bay, who have used mirror sites in different countries to thwart attempts to shut them down. The script message is to make you fear that some psychos are now using mirror sites to make real-time murder-for-entertainment sites untraceable, as the victims die in death machines activated by the viewers. Your natural reaction would be to lobby Congress for legislation to put restrictions on Internet access and it’s various communication tools to protect you from any such monster. The problem, Gertrude, is that for all the depraved things which sickos do, and for all the nasty porn sites which depict the mistreatment of sex slaves living in former East Block countries, none of them are in fact getting millions of viewers to participate in gruesome torture or killings. Not even in Eastern Europe, where most of the world’s porn sites are located. So far it’s not been reported in the US either, which (last time I checked)is the only country under Congressional jurisdiction.
This may well be one of those movies which is so despicable that you may want to see it just to know how bad it is, but if you watch movies for entertainment, and not to feed your paranoid demons, then make sure that you don’t pay for it. Just watch it, and you’ll understand just how uniquely twisted the mind of the guy who wrote this “piece of shit” (to quote the most interesting line in the whole script). if such crimes ever do take place, anywhere, you’ll know that the perpetrator got the idea from this movie. You’ll know that the idea for such cruel acts was given by the writers of this crap, just because someone thought that it would scare you into making it easier for the recorded media mafia to continue getting salary increases, without paying the entertainers any more, of whom more than half have been bullied by the same organization out of ownership rights to the work they copywrited. But it probably won’t happen, certainly not with millions supporting the first psycho who tries it. The script author expressed some insanely evil personal fantasies of his own, therefore it’s no wonder he has such a low opinion of you. So, sue him for libel, but don’t take the bait by trying to take the Internet out of the hands of a whole generation. It’s your freedom that’s on the line, too.
I like the Heat Lamp scene – damn that was cool.
While there may be few loopholes, the one biggest loophole in the plot would have left the movie completely without steam in the first 10 minutes.
A DNS entry, which they claim the killer is changing every couple of minutes has two plot killing traits:
1) It takes up to 24 hours for the entry change to propogate, especially if it’s propogating from Russia to America.
2) It can be blocked and overridden on a national/global level in the same amount of time, thus making the site name useless.
Diane Lane being a babe is the only reason I can think of seeing this. The trailer was atrocious.
“saved by a great performance by Colin Hanks”
This interests me though, as from everything I’ve seen him in, he doesn’t have nearly half the talent of his father (I bet he REALLY gets sick of being compared to his father, but it’s inevitable, ha ha).
doesnt this sound like the japanese drama Unfair?
The amount of comments here basically display how much interest this movie has generated. Yikes. Lane had a gem handed to her with Unfaithful, she was ready for a career revival, and then…nada. Guess it’s her husband’s time to shine.
Damn John – two 5 out of 10’s this week. Good for you for taking a stand though.