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Created Mar 05, 2011 01:09PM PST • Edited Mar 05, 2011 01:09PM PST

1. Quality

2. Summary

   Barely OK 2.0

   A thriller in which an investigator must catch a killer who is doing ritual murders that must be solved by following biblical clues. Sound like the movie “Se7en”? This movie seemed to borrow heavily from that premise.

   Dennis Quaid plays Det. Aidan Breslin, a recently widowed police investigator who is struggling to be a single father to his two kids. Breslin becomes involved in a series of mysterious murders that seem to be related to the apocalypse. He must find the killers before they strike again, and become more involved in his son’s lives.

   Quaid is ok in the lead role, balancing struggles on his home front with a puzzling series of crime. He struggles acting like a tough interrogator, but seems to be adequate otherwise.

   The movie creates a requisite amount of tension, and offers some twists and turns. But overall, I felt like I had seen it before. It struggles to differentiate itself enough from previous movies in that respect. Even the clues he finds are remarkably similar to other movies.

   When the movie does differentiate itself, its too little and too late. We have alredy become aware of what’s going to happen, and I’m puzzled when the rest of the police force can’t seem to follow the same clues that are presented (ex., a large picture hanging on the wall showing which building to go to!). Seriously, if you have a mass murderer on the loose, why would you send one cop and not some back up?

   Overall, it was ok. But I can’t really be more generous than that for a movie like this. I wouldn’t make it your first choice for viewing unless you’re a die-hard fan of the actors, or are really into trying to guess the outcome of obscure thrillers.

   Watched on Netflix via streaming.

4. Acting

   OK 2.5

5. Male Stars OK 2.5

   Quaid is ok in the lead role. He comes across as genuinely concerned and shows emotional vulnerability when needed, but struggles when he has to play a tough interviewer. It just didn’t work for him.

6. Female Stars Good 3.0

   Ziyi Zhang played a nice role and had a great unsettling aura about her. She made you nervous without being physically scary.

7. Female Costars OK 2.5

8. Male Costars Barely OK 2.0

   I had a big issue with Quaid’s partner, “Stingray”, played by Clifton Collins Jr., whose cheap mustache and character’s cheesy name made him a caricature of an investigator.

10. Film

    Barely OK 2.0

11. Direction Barely OK 2.0

12. Play OK 2.5

13. Music Pretty Bad 1.5

    Over-the-top sappy music when one character was emotional became annoying as the film tried to heighten the dramatic tension. Not needed.

14. Visuals Good 3.0

    Some good special effects, and intriguing death machines.

15. Content

16. Edge

    Sordid 2.8

17. Sex Titillating 1.8

    Polaroid pictures of child molestation, without nudity.

18. Violence Savage 3.6

    Savage killings and images. NOT for kids.

19. Rudeness Profane 3.0

    Plenty of swear words throughout

21. Reality

    Surreal 2.1

22. Circumstantial Glib 1.8

23. Biological Glib 1.8

24. Physical Surreal 2.6

    It would be hard to duplicate some of the events in real life.