Mindhunters

Mindhunters is one of those movies that's been on my watchlist forever, over the years its just managed to consistently evade me. Now I've seen it however, the wait was worth it.

This thriller starring Johnny Lee Miller, L L Cool J and Val Kilmer tells the story of several FBI agents going on a mock assignment on a secluded island in hopes of pleasing their tutor and getting the desired profiler job of their dreams. However shortly after arriving things suddenly get a tad too real.

I'll be honest even though its been on my watchlist for so long I didn't actually know what it was. For some reason I thought it was a sci-fi with a name like that, whereas it is in fact a fairly smart little thriller.

A blend of SAW (2004) and your standard police drama it's an entertaining little movie that is well written, well constructed and certainly not take your brain out viewing.

Sadly it's not without its flaws but it's still a lot of fun and a demonstration that once upon a time Hollywood did know how to do original old school style movies before they so very badly lost their way.

Fun little movie.

The Good:

Fairly smart

Cast are on point

Old school feel

The Bad:

Feels like its missing something

Film could have done with a higher running time

Director Renny Harlin is very much a paracinematic man, and his particular brand of style fits perfectly in the early 2000s aesthetic of excess. High concept thrillers such as Speed rely on an exponentially thrilling pace. Moving the plot along faster than the viewer brain can comprehend the inherent silliness of the core concept.

Since Fincher's Se7en, thrillers have taken the macabre turn in the crime genre. Reaching the point of Wan's Saw set within one of those trials of torture. Mindhunters similarly attempts the same zenith, upping Se7en's police duo with a ragtag team of FBI agents, racing to solve an ongoing test of intelligence and insanity. Despite the blatant exposition and character development, none of these people seem smarter than Pitt's hardheaded detective.

The agents muster a fun mix of "oh, they've come a long way since" and "oh... who?" Notable entertainers here are Johnny Lee Miller sporting his best Blanche DuBois, Christian Slater and Val Kilmer competing in their natural friendly-yet-suspicious-yet-bored acting styles, and LL Cool J acting as if he was John McClane in yet another preposterous scenario.

Attempting to outdo predecessors with 'bigger is better', the story takes place on an isolated island complete with an entire city simulation for a training exercise. According to their teacher, representative of "the mind of a sociopath", presumably not meaning laughably inane and ridiculously convenient for the killer's grand scheme. The film, of course, never slows down to let you question how the entire plot hinges of this arbitrary setting.

The script of Mindhunters is definitely where entertainment hinges on as Harlin desperately races ahead of logic and common sense. For such a complex and convoluted mystery build, there are a remarkable number of legitimate plant and pay-offs. Many of them are obvious enough to predict despite the suspension of disbelief being thoroughly tested. Much how Jigsaw relies on sheer chance amidst his philosophical soliloquies, a great number of set-pieces and foreshadowing relies on pure coincidence.

The script is constantly testing whether these characters are supposed geniuses outmatched or merely idiots outwitted by another idiot. One particular if insignificant moment of clumsy writing is the repeated mantra of a situation only being secure "on the drive home", the heroes of course proving this right... when boarding a helicopter to safety. Could've easily been fixed for "on the way home" but it doesn't affect the story.

In a world of post-modern, meta-narrative ironies, Harlin is successful in his sheer earnestness for pure, dumb, entertainment. For a film about investigative geniuses battling a criminal mastermind, it's best to leave your brain at the door.

The movie, Mindhunters, has a very simple plot. A group of profiling trainees are sent to a deserted island used by the U. S. military to play out a simulation involving their profiling skills. Once there, things start to go awry and the simulation is not what it seems. What follows is a clever scene by scene, clue solving, movie that keeps the audience interested in what is going to happen next.

While Mindhunters can be faulted for some of its realism, it cannot be faulted for being entertaining. Once the simulation begins, the movie keeps your attention to the very end. Each scene is a "clue" that the agents have to try and solve.

Movies like this are not great acting or great dialogue. However, there are some well known actor names in the movie that play their parts well.

Was Mindhunters an entertaining and attention keeping film? Yes, and that is why I think it is a decent movie.

I was shown this movie at a friend's house without knowing ANYTHING about it. I mean NOTHING, to the extent of saying "Hey, Christian Slater is in this! Oh, and Val Kilmer!". I didn't know if it was good or terrible. Nothing. Zip. Nada. To me, this is the very best way to watch a movie.

Anyway, I was fascinated by it. What got me was the theme of this movie, which is thought-inspiring and original. Basically, that we humans, try all we want to be free-willed and intelligent, still act according to predictable patterns ingrained in our personalities. Both alone or in groups, it is in principle possible to predict and control the actions of humans.

The plot itself, although requiring a certain amount of suspension of disbelief, is original and fresh, and so is the writing. The characters are distinct and three-dimensional (they have to be in a story like this), and basically, the story works.

Especially since we, the audience, are also being profiled by the movie. We're trying to be clever and outwit the movie by saying "yeah, well, now this will happen" and constantly being outwitted ourselves.

Excellent, 10/10. An intelligent movie watcher's movie.

A group of seven FBI trainees is sent to an isolated island for the final stage of their training period under the direction of the eccentric Jake Harris (Val Kilmer), who uses questionable methods. However, they are attacked and killed by a serial killer that can be one of the team members. The tension increases amidst the group with the lack of confidence on each other.

Although not being exceptional, "Mindhunters" is a good thriller and slash movie. The tense story is original, mixes horror, thriller, action, crime and mystery and the resolution is not bad. This is the type of movie that entertains and I liked it. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Caçadores de Mente" ("Mindhunters")