Psycho-Traqueurs

The film concerns a motley group of FBI recruits (Christian Slater , Johnny Lee Miller , Kathryn Morris , Clifton Collins) commanded by a training professor (Val Kilmer) . These Mindhunters train in a multidisciplinary capacity , including highly demanding field training . They are stranded at an island where are finding various killings executed by a serial murderer . For seven elite profilers, finding a serial killer is a process of elimination. Their own. Have been killed one by one . Who's the killer?.

In the picture there are mysteries , frenetic action , tension , suspense and a little bit of gore when the murders happen . From start to finish the nonstop action is continued , it is fast moving and that's why it is entertaining enough . The film is a crossover amongst the investigations means of ¨CSI¨ , the ¨Seven¨ (David Fincher) thriller , the training risks of ¨The recruit¨ (Roger Donaldson) and the intrigue of ¨Identity¨ (James Mangold) . The motion picture is a stimulating whodunit where we are really intrigued in the twisted happenings from the presentation to final . The screenplay has a complex plot and the end has an extraordinary surprise . The Investigative Support Unit ("Mindhunters" is slang for the ISU) is the FBI's special force (similar to ¨Criminal minds¨ TV series team) , they're profilers that have assisted state and local police in cracking some of the United States' most notorious serial murder cases . Mindhunters specialize in understanding and profiling the chemistry and mechanical workings of the brain in these serial criminals and have researched notorious series killers . The motion picture is only setting on two stages : the FBI academy and the island ; however , it doesn't make boring , neither tired , nor dull , but amusing . The pic was professionally directed by Renny Harlin . The yarn will appeal to suspense and dark atmosphere fans . Rating : 6.5/10, good . Well worth seeing.

I've read comments pointing out that this movie has ripped a lot of ideas from other movies and that there are situations that are so over the top that they get silly.

To that I say; Sure, why not? It's still entertaining.

I agree that they could have used the cast differently and that some of the plot points are quite unbelievable but on the whole it doesn't distract from the tension and the setting of the movie.

The profilers sometimes act pretty stupid and out of character but the actors do a very decent job portraying them and Renny Harlin has actually done a really good job with the directing.

If you want a horror/thriller/action flick where you keep guessing pretty much to the end and don't mind recognizing bits and pieces from other movies then this is for you.

Well worth a watch (no pun intended).

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.

I found Mindhunters to be a thoroughly entertaining movie that did have some good surprises and moments. The story is as original as it could be, although, one can argue that the whole group in isolation getting picked off one by one thing has been done before. I will not give away too much of the movie so that you can be surprised at the twists that it offers, except I must make one comment. Why on earth do they let LL Cool J have some of the most ridiculously stupid one liners. I mean, if he wants to be bought as a believable actor, he needs to put an end to this madness. I am sure you will know what I am talking about when you see the movie.

Anyway, I give it 8 out of 10 and a definite check it out if you enjoy thrillers... especially ones with gruesome killers.

A film so ramped up to 11 it stops making sense in the opening act and gets gradually more deranged. Renny Harlin throws every cinematic flick, trick, twist bluff and counter bluff that you start to feel like you're channel hopping while watching another film entirely on fast forward.

Bunch of criminal profilers gets an adventure holiday type training programme that turns out to be a cat and mouse with a real killer out to prove them incompetent. What's work without some stress related "challenging targets"?

Most of the actors are decent and a good fit for TV movies but Harlin is clearly less interested in directing them than the set pieces and the visual pizazz, most of them just have to hold still and behave irrationally before the inevitable running about in the dark before holding still and behaving irrationally some more. There's some cats as well.

Not to say it's bad; it's a fairly entertaining techno thriller/horror that's not boring. It's got some effective scares later on and keeps you guessing who's going to die next, and how. Sadly the killer's identity is a bit obvious despite the copious red herring and most of the dialogue's rubbish, but if you ever wondered what would happen if you dropped the CSI crew into a Saw movie (and to be fair who wouldn't want that?) then this is for you.