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Taking Lives (2004)

Taking Lives (2004)

GENRESCrime,Mystery,Thriller
LANGEnglish,French
ACTOR
Angelina JolieEthan HawkeKiefer SutherlandGena Rowlands
DIRECTOR
D.J. Caruso

SYNOPSICS

Taking Lives (2004) is a English,French movie. D.J. Caruso has directed this movie. Angelina Jolie,Ethan Hawke,Kiefer Sutherland,Gena Rowlands are the starring of this movie. It was released in 2004. Taking Lives (2004) is considered one of the best Crime,Mystery,Thriller movie in India and around the world.

The film starts in the early 1980s. Young Martin Asher took a bus for Canada. He meets another teen on the bus, Matt Soulsby. When the bus broke down they decided to rent a car and drive to Seattle. On the road the car gets a flat tire, and Matt starts changing the tire. Martin comments on how he and Matt are about the same height, and in that moment he quickly pushes Matt in the way of an oncoming truck causing a huge accident where Matt and the driver both die. He took Matt's guitar and left singing like Matt did. Twenty years later, an FBI profiler, Illeana Scott comes to Canada to help hunt down the now serial killer Martin Asher who killed multiple men and lived by their identities. Martin's mother claims that she saw Martin in Quebec city and she tells the police that Martin is evil. The police also has an eyewitness James Costa who saw Asher kill his last victim...

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Taking Lives (2004) Reviews

  • If you have intelligence, prepare to have it insulted

    iago-62004-03-30

    This movie is BAD. I knew going in that it was going to be bad, but I enjoy a good cheesy thriller every now and then. Still, there are some points of badness that really pass the point of any redeeming value. It's a shame, because it had a great cast. Angelina is turning into one of those actresses that one likes in SPITE of her work. It's too bad she can't find something to take advantage of her uniqueness. But anyway. The rest of this will be filled with COPIOUS SPOILERS, because we're going to pick the movie apart for the benefit of readers who have already seen it. Oh dear, where to begin? Let's begin with Ethan. I think it would have been MUCH more interesting to establish from the beginning (or about halfway through) that he was the killer (I mean intentionally. not just by making it so obvious to anyone who has seen a serial killer movie before, or, scratch that, anyone who has seen a MOVIE before). If you knew he was the killer they could develop this thing about WHY did he choose to put himself at the center of this investigation into his crimes? They could have played it off that he picked Angelina beforehand to manipulate. That would have been interesting. As it stands, once it's revealed that he's the killer, the whole entirety of his performance up til that point doesn't make any sense, and misses so many of the intriguing possibilities described above. This is one of those movies where it seems the writer and director just hope you won't think too hard (or at all) about what happened before the moment unfolding on screen. There was zero chemistry between Angelina and Ethan. They set up Angelina as this cool and confident FBI agent who's seen it all. why would she fall for this whiny loser artist? Her supposedly falling for him had 'Plot Twist' written all over it, because it betrayed the character, and the audience who had built up good feeling for her in spite of the screenplay. I also resented how she turned into such a broken shell of a woman after the 'shock' of Ethan being the killer was 'revealed.' Come on, the script had built her up as much more psychologically solid than that. If there had been the slightest heat between her and Ethan, we might have believed that her overwhelming passion 'clouded her judgment,' which is what I think we're supposed to believe, but it just fails spectacularly and ends up p**sing the audience off. And while I don't want to be overly PC, there is really NO excuse for Angelina to say that it's OKAY for another (male) detective to HIT her (hard, too), especially when the reason he's hitting her is for being a weak woman who let her emotions cloud her judgment. I blame Angelina personally for that one, because she should have said 'No WAY am I shooting that.' It would be another thing if it added ANYTHING to the movie. Grrrr.. Ah, what else? I really enjoyed Keifer's 3.7 seconds of screen time. I LOVED how the detective who is supposedly protecting Ethan--who is being shuttled out of the city because he's in so much danger--leaves him alone in the apartment for like five minutes (while one of the numerous red herrings of course shows up and attacks him) while he just waits outside by the car. Later a character says what a shame it is that a good cop like him got killed, and I was like, 'Good cop my ass! That doofus deserved it!' And the whole thing about Angelina lying in the grave goes absolutely nowhere. And who did that guy under the bed turn out to be? Did I miss the cursory explanation? Someone just needs to issue a moratorium on generic serial killer movies with pointless plot twists for the sake of having plot twists. This is one of those movies with so many pointless twists and so many deliberate deceptions of the audience that eventually you just start to resent it. Don't get me wrong. I enjoy a good old cheesy serial killer movie, like The Bone Collector, which was equally ridiculous, but in a fun way. but this one shows contempt of its audience and just pisses me off. Do these films make enough money anymore that they really still need to be made? I guess there has to be SOMETHING to show on airplanes. And Angelina, seriously, drop me a line and I will WRITE you a script. In the meantime, you know dear, if you can imagine Ashley Judd being in it just as easily as yourself, maybe it's time to steer clear. Oh, oh dear. --- Check out website devoted to bad and cheesy movies: www.cinemademerde.com

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  • Taking Stuff, from other films

    The_Void2006-04-03

    There are a lot of these crime thrillers about. Some, such as Copycat and Insomnia, offer a surprisingly good time; but more often than not, these films are a lot more like Murder by Numbers and The Bone Collector, and unfortunately; Taking Lives is like the latter. That being said, the film certainly isn't all bad; and definitely does have its moments. The plot has little regard for consistency or logic, as it constantly switches gears and throws in any number of events that are clearly there for dramatic effect and haven't been thought out properly. The film is an obvious derivative of successful nineties thriller, 'Seven' and some scenes, such as the entry into the murderer's home have been taken wholesale from the superior movie. The plot has a lot of elements, but we principally follow FBI agent Illeana Scott as she travels to Montreal in order to help their police force with a case that involves a serial killer who, not content to simply murder his victims, takes their identity and lives their lives for a period before moving onto his next victim. The cinematography is dark and glossy, and sleazy settings mean that it's always a lot like Fincher's earlier flick. The pace of the film is poorly paced, as sometimes it's fast and furious, while at other times it's very dull. At almost an hour and fifty minutes, the film is too long; and a better editing job is definitely in order. The final half hour is of particular note for being poorly judged. It's far too slow, and means that rather than being memorable; the conclusion is tepid and disorientated. The first twist can be seen coming a mile off, and the way that it is revealed disregards logic for dramatic effect. The final twist doesn't work well either, as everything is far too convenient. It seems that in their effort to outdo all the other films in its class, the writers have forgotten that for dramatic effect to work, it needs to make sense. The acting is good enough, and it's obvious why the dark and mysterious Angelina Jolie was cast in the lead. Ethan Hawke, who I seem to like more every time I see him, is good; while Kiefer Sutherland is given nothing at all to do. On the whole, this is worth a watch if you've got nothing better to do; but there are better films that are like 'Taking Lives', than Taking Lives.

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  • Predictable For Movie Buffs, But Still Enjoyable.

    BigHardcoreRed2004-12-28

    If I had to write a one sentence review for Taking Lives, it would be, "If you have seen a ridiculous amount of thriller movies and have seen all the twists and turns before, then this movie is very predictable, if you haven't, it is worth a look and you may even be surprised." For those that want more, please read on. I believe the casting for this movie was as close to perfect as they were going to get. Angelina Jolie stars as FBI Agent Illeana Scott. Illeana has both strengths and weaknesses,which are both done in the right way. She is a very smart detective and can pick up clues that many could not and leads the way to many places that the other detectives would never have found. She does not come off as the hardened, tough cop that would have made this movie much worse. Instead, she usually gets the short end of the stick when forced to do physical battle with lowlifes and even other cops. She is flawed and vulnerable but can put up a hell of a fight when needed but relies on her brain to beat a larger and stronger foe. For an example of how to do this the wrong way, see Ashley Judd (of whom I'm also a fan of) in Twisted. Olivier Martinez plays a character I find hard to like at any part of the film named Paquette. Paquette is a Canadian cop who has issues with bringing the FBI in (I'm not sure if the FBI actually assists in Canadian affairs, but this is just a movie). Olivier seems likable as a person and I'm not familiar with his work, as I'm sure it is mostly French. I'll chalk it up to good acting. Keifer Sutherland had only what seemed to be a bit part here and could have been used a bit more. He was probably in and out in 2 days of filming. And finally, Ethan Hawke did a fine job for his role, but I think they could have made a better choice for this character. As I said earlier, those of us who see many of these types of movies will probably see most of the twists before they happen. Many of them well before they happen. Some of you will know everything that's going to happen before it happens, such as I did, but I still think it was a good story and was entertained. I can honestly recommend this one for at least a rental.

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  • A compendium of serial killer movie clichés,but quite fun for all that

    DrLenera2005-07-26

    Imagine Seven,The Bone Collector,Kiss The Girls,Red Dragon and a load of similar movies all rolled into one,and you might get something like Taking Lives. It's quite a stylish and sometimes exciting movie,it's just almost completely lacking in originality. It's also pretty obvious who the killer is early on,so the film's plot has to take some very silly twists and turns to try to hide this. Nevertheless,there is much that is good,perhaps it was realised that the script was mediocre and everybody tried hard to try to overcome this. Director David T. Caruso gives the film a very stylish feel,with some interesting use of camera angles and colour-check out the opening scene,in which the colour has been altered in some way to make it look somewhat dreamlike. A brief but exciting car chase and a murder in a lift are very well staged and edited. Angelina Jolie turns her unbelievable role into something approaching good,and Ethan Hawke almost matches her,especially near the end. Philip Glass's score is terrifically menacing,and the film is well paced,the first half slow but increasingly suspenseful and uneasy,the second half fast and full of action. There is also one 'jump' which really works well,I won't describe it but think of the hand coming out of the grave in Carrie...... The climax is over a little quickly,and gives us a supposed plot twist which is than proved to be fake. It would have been a lot more interesting if said plot twist was real. Taking Lives never really delves into the twisted minds of it's two main protagonists nor truly gives a sense of evil as,for instance Seven did. It's one of those films that always seems on the verge of being really disturbing or thrilling and never gets there. Nevertheless,if you like serial killer movies,you're probably like this one,even if you will probably be able to guess much of the plot right from the beginning.

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  • Creepy, sinister and moody. But SE7EN it ain't...

    Freedomisanillusion2004-04-15

    Despite my love of Angelina Jolie, I must say that Taking Lives wasted a lot of good opportunity. Given that they invented an entirely new lead character, we can't really compare this to the book, so let's look at it as a movie of it's own right. Jolie plays Illeana Scott, a somewhat strange FBI agent who is called up to Canada to investigate the grisly murders of several young men, all whom have had their identities stolen by the killer. New to the scene is witness James Costa, Ethan Hawke, who soon grows to have an attachment to Scott. At turns formulaic and down right rip off (the credits are far too similar to be called a homage to SE7EN), Taking Lives is a very enjoyable piece of work. Beautifully shot, the film wallows in its moods. It knows that it can be creepy, but it wears it out on its sleeves. Angelina is on top form as Scott, although its a shame that the movie does stoop to the need for quick-sex-scene-with-unnecessary-titty-shot. Ethan Hawke is bearable as Costa, although he and Jolie have very little chemistry. Other players, Olivier Martinez, Gena Rowlands, Tcheky Karyo and Jean Hughes-Angalade are also quite good. The film does have its highs: excellent cinematography, creepy sinister mood, two fantastic adrenaline-jump moments that I never saw coming. But it also has one FATAL flaw, and that is that anyone who has seen any piece of film or television before will be able to guess who the killer is. Still, a fun movie nevertheless. 7/10 If you get the chance to see it in the cinema, watch people's reactions to the 'scissors-scene'. I was amazed to see hoe genuinely horrified even the most hardened viewers in my cinema were.

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