Mindcage

Martin fan here. I'll also candidly admit, we watched to see if he could pull off a strictly serious role because we didn't remember any movie in which he previously did so... NOPE. It was just, strange. Not sure if it was the acting, script or chemistry or a combination but just.. NO. Secondly, there were so many scenes that just screamed careless. Driving while the car was obviously in park... ect. Did even they TRY? All in all, the had an interesting premise (albeit a ripoff in large chunks) that given to the right team could have been interesting. The twist at the end was cute. Husband fell asleep and I sat there.. SOUR.

I mean I could look it up but I just don't have the energy or the care. This plot is so bad it's actually kind of funny. I knew from the first minute this movie would be a pile of poop. But I like B movies.

Lionsgate man, why? I mean I guess Jon and Martin needed some cash or something, but at least use a workable script. I can't wait to see the score on this movie in a few weeks. My guess is it's sub 4.

I liked he creativity a little, but overall it's just so bad and poorly done it can't be redeemable. I did like the lead female character.

Watch this movie if you want to chuckle but make sure you're at least 2-3 wines deep. 3/10 just because I laughed a lot and the plot is so bad. So bad 😂

Serial killer movies is quite difficult to make. Much like horror movies, they are constructed around cliche. The key is character build up and craftmanship. Mindcage is full of cliche and none of craftmanship and character build up.

At times the movie seem to be over the top constructed around the cliches, and at that at beginner level, i.e. The red herrings are too obvious, and theses are crucial to mystery movies.

The movie also lacks fluency, i.e. The scenes are mechanically put together in segments with disturbedly incoherency.

Actorwise the selection is poorly made, especially the supporting roles. The husband of the lead character and the prison psychologist is a joke. Martin Lawrence will never be able to pull of a serious character/movie. Malkovitch tries his best, but delivers his standard unsettling character. Knepper is good as the sheriff and is always watchable.

It is not a terrible movie as such, but could have been done better by working the script more and used other actors. The movie uses some tricks to make it different from other serial killer movies. I cannot reveal them here since it would spoil the movie, but I would have used these tricks more and created fusion of horror/serial killer/mystery movie.

All in all, it is not a terrible movie, I have seen much worse. The movie is just flat. IMDB rates it, to this date, 4,1/10 and that is quite correct.

The movie itself copy the Seven and Silence of the Lambs formula, but with a far worst cast and an extremely low budget for the Fx's.

So, first acting is bad keeping in mind who the main characters are here. The only who make an OK job is John Malkovich. All the others are pretty bad here.

Second, the script is interesting till it become obvious. The Twist is Ok, but not credible. So, it's just a bit dissapointing.

Last, Fx's are the worst I've seen in a long time. It's soap Opera level. Looks like they couldn't even shot an action scene decently.

So, even all it's flaws, it is quite entertaining if your are looking for the new version of The Silence of the Dambs.

A female protagonist detective (Mary / Melissa Roxburgh / Manifest) is teaming up with a veteran detective (Jake / Martin Lawrence / Bad Boys) to chase what seem to be a copy-cat killer from one of Jake's old cases. As the investigation goes deeper, more and more eerie details from the past are slowly unveiled, leading up to an unexpected ending. The main, and maybe only, person that can help them is the original killer himself ("The Artist" / John Malkovitch / Being John Malkovitch) which Mary must go into a deep psychological relationship with, in order to get him to shed light on their investigation.

Sounds familiar? Maybe because you've seen movies such as "Silence of the Lambs" or other detective dramas that following similar line. The difference here is that the production quality of "Mindcage" is pisspoor, Lionsgate managed to produce a movie at a Hallmark TV level. The special effects are as if done by a child, the foot chases are laughable and the green-screen (view outside the windows of the car, for example) are almost insulting to the viewer.

That low production quality and lack of good direction, recording and editing, makes the decent main actors performance look childish and amateuristic. The other performances are even worse, not even one of them landing a believable role, the worst offender being the facility's manager (Dr. Loesch / Neb Chupin) which is apparently a network engineer turned actor- somehow I was not surprised to learn that.

You know if you're an actor that is about to play a violinist, you might take a couple of lessons just so it looks good on screen, or if you are going to play a cop, visit a police-station for a day or two so that your demeanor is correct? Well, none of that here, the actors are as if they are pulled from their beds, being dressed with a $50 wardrobe and $10 makeup from Walmart and lights, camera, action...

The low production quality also distracts from the story and it being a bit out-there (no spoilers here- but just to say there is a twist somewhere in there) makes it a bit hard to follow the movie at times, but I made an extra effort to stick around to the end, and if you manage to ignore all the faults of this movie it is not completely un-enjoyable. It's just that there are so many movies better than this one out there to spend your time on.

I hope Melissa Roxburgh lands a better gig next time because she has the quality of a leading actress but with movies like this it is hard lash out a good performance. Guide: No nudity, no sexual situations, but several dead bodies and hints of physical harm. Exact score: 48 / 100.