The 'Mindhunters' trail leads only to absurdity

Friday, May 13, 2005

By SEAN AXMAKER
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER

The latest twist in the evil-genius serial-killer genre pits the sadistic sociopath du jour against what should be a real challenge -- a master class of FBI criminal profilers in training.

MOVIE REVIEW

MINDHUNTERS

DIRECTOR: Renny Harlin

CAST: Christian Slater, Kathryn Morris, Jonny Lee Miller, LL Cool J, Val Kilmer

RUNNING TIME: 106 minutes

RATING: R for violence/strong graphic images, language and sexual content

WHERE: Alderwood 16, Cinema 17, Everett 9, Galleria 11, Longston Place 14, Meridian 16, Parkway Plaza 12, Redmond Town Center, Renton Village, Woodinville 12

GRADE: F

LINKS/TRAILERS
· Official site

PHOTO GALLERY

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This sketchy, unstable group, ostensibly led by star pupil Christian Slater, seems ready to turn on each other even before they are dropped off on the isolated military island by their eccentric teacher (Val Kilmer) for their final exam. The unannounced addition of a field agent observer (LL Cool J) only fuels the friction as they track down a fictional serial killer on eerily empty streets populated by feral cats, maggots and spring-loaded dummies, and discover that he's real and out for their blood.

Imagine the spiritual godson of Dr. Phibes and Rube Goldberg, with a flair for concocting and executing ridiculously elaborate traps (all apparently whipped up on the spot) and a taste for the grotesque. As "The Puppeteer" yanks their strings and cuts them down one by one, suspicion passes over everyone in turn with flimsy evidence and arbitrary clues whipped into dubious leaps of logic, all forgotten with each new killing.

One-time action wunderkind Renny Harlin proves once again that coherence is not his forte. He's just in it for the execution of bizarre cinematic stunt killings. A couple of scenes are weirdly fun in their offbeat ingenuity (a domino-triggered death by liquid nitrogen is entertaining and an underwater gunfight makes inspired use of physics) but they hardly make up for the idiocy leading up to them.

In an age where forensic detectives and criminal profilers abound on TV, the psychobabble silliness passed off as investigative insight here is laughable at best. The best and brightest of the FBI are reduced to making impulsive decisions in the heat of blood-pounding panic.

This killer must have been disappointed to find his so-called master class as gullible and short-sighted and emotionally unhinged as any slasher movie teenager.