Dot.Kill

At at glance, I noticed the reviewers mostly gave this movie a higher ranking than the hoi polloi. While this isn't the best movie you could watch, I don't think it belongs below a 5 rating.

Speaking broadly about movies and TV shows that feature net related activity, the bigger budget movies go with computer effects that defy any reality (think "Jurassic Park" and the line by a child "ooh! this is Unix. I know this.") while less self-obsessed low budget films are stuck with using stuff the rest of us actually use from day to day... and are therefore more realistic.

This isn't academy award material, but it's not as bad as the couple pathetic reviewers make it out to be. Any reviewer who gives a 1-2 star rating for a properly produced film should be doomed to watch "Manos" or Justin Bieber movies for life. Netflix popped it up as an average selection for me and it was some good filler time while I got some work done. It beat the heck out of old "X-File reruns."

One movie, different names... Dot.kill, Digital Reaper, Digital Killer here..... pfff seen that before, probably a bad B-movie... Well I was surprised, in a good way. Assante produced this one and I must say, it's not bad at all. I'm not a real fan of Assante, but he does a good job. You can look at it in different ways, finding the bad guy came for me in second place, Assante's struggle was for me more interesting. A movie with 2 stories, if you want to see a good b-movie with a human story to tell watch it. I wasn't bored during the movie and that says something. I've seen better movies but there are a lot worse than this one.

I saw dot.kill on Showtime the other night; and, while I thought the title was totally lame, I watched it because is starred Armand Assante.

His filmography is hit or miss for me; but, I have to give him credit on this one. His passion within the role really makes this film. He was absolutely convincing as a detective who's health, family life, and career are crumbling.

Charlie is an old-school detective who relies on instinct, not high-tech. He is alternately hard-core, abrasive (particularly to co-workers and his son), and tender (towards a former addict, whom he saved from a life on the streets).

The twist at the end, as to the identity of the killer was great, even though it really wasn't hard to guess, with the heavy foreshadowing used by the director.

It could have been better; but, a pretty good movie nonetheless.

One of those movies that you select at Blockbuster when most of the viewing choices are unappetizing. Armande Assante delivers a strong performance as a police detective, with a bad smoking habit, trying to run down a creative killer. In this moody, urban film all the acting is above average and the story is well paced. The number of characters in the story is substantial but the lead actors (wife, son, buddy, snitch, computer-geek) are easy to follow. The killer selects each of his victims from diverse backgrounds and then proceeds to murder them in unusual - but appalling ways. If you're tired of the animated animals (exception: Ice Age) and/or the non-funny slapstick comedies populating video stores, try Dot.Kill.

I was kind of surprised to find a straight to video police thriller by a mainstream director, John Irvin, and starring a mainstream actor, Armand Assante. What didn't surprise me at all was its weak disjointed story with very little sense guiding the cops' actions in finding the killer.

A couple things were done alright. The locations of the crimes (which are all shown live on the internet, hence the title) are always cool derelict industrial settings. None of them are used to very good effect, but they are good locations. Armand Assante brings a lot to the unfortunately underwritten role of the morphine addict detective. The sad part is that this addiction was a lazy screenwriter's device to take the place of character development, punctuate almost every scene (Assante faithfully coughs away any plot-related dialogue), and generate "suspense" in later scenes. Although, the dimension of his character, as a supposedly obsolete detective matching wits with a high-tech criminal, is still a good idea.

The identity of the killer is not very hard to guess. In fact the central plot of the picture is a bleeding cliché, surrounded by the window dressing of would-be character development, seemingly as a distraction. This was obviously a low budget picture, but it wasn't the budget that holds the movie back from its potential, it's the weak script and the failure on the part of the director, cinematographer, editor, to create a harmoniously atmospheric thriller out of this routine cop-vs-bad-guy movie.

"Dot.Kill" is pretty obviously trying to do some of what "Se7en" did so well and that "Fear dot com" tried to do. However, it just doesn't have the same freshness that "Se7en" had (and really hasn't lost) nor does it have the atmosphere and aesthetic grace. I can't say I'm surprised, but I'm always upset when I see missed potential. Just go watch any David Fincher movie instead.