Untraceable: Death by Viral Marketing
OK. So not quite two full years without a post. Between work and grad school, life gets pretty busy. But, as Ferris Bueller said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it." How true.
Well, I've had some time to stop and look around, and wandered down to the local Blockbuster where I got "Untraceable". The movie caught my attention when it was released in the theatre since it was a cinematic take on IT and Privacy Law, which I'm studying in grad school. Basically, a tech-savvy psycho has created a website with a live video feed. He goes out, kidnaps a person, and sets up an elaborate means of torture. One guy gets pumped full of a blood thinning agent, and bleeds from the web address etched into his chest. Another guy dies from overexposure to heated lamps. The scenarios get a little more scary each time.
Now, if that were it, OK, a rather boring twist on an old plot device. However, "Untraceable" tosses in a tech-savvy twist. The more people who visit the website, the faster the person dies. It is death by viral marketing. And there are message boards for each kill. The comments can be a little difficult to read as the camera pans in and out, and the comments scroll quickly as more are added, but you get the sense of the car crash: it is gory, nasty yet you can't help but slow down and look.
Aside from the tech-savvy twist, the writing is also good and the plot comes together very well. I couldn't help but chuckle when Diane Lane's character speaks in tech about a website that just showed a live video of a cat being tortured and killed. Her superior doesn't understand anything about mirror websites or routing, and thinks it's a waste of time since it's just a cat. Then there is the super-techie played by Colin Hanks who is into online dating and avatars. The banter is lively, entertaining and humorous. The speech her superior gives about the website, telling people not to visit it, is a little predictable with its sound bites, but it does serve a point in the overall plot development of the movie. It adds another piece to the puzzle.
You're given the pieces to the puzzle bit by bit, which keeps you riveted. You start to put it together with Diane Lane's character, and though you know she is going to get captured from the previews, the way in which it happens is unnerving. There are lots of little things throughout the movie that make sense by the end, lots of little cues you start rooting to see.
As technology continues to advance, early tech movies like "Hackers" and "The Net" seem dated and humorous now. I get the sense that "Untraceable" will not fall into that bunch; it will remain relevant, perhaps more so as privacy is pushed to the front. Humans are curious, and when friends or coworkers pass around links, you can't help but click on them. Even the FBI, in the movie, wasn't immune. They were sort of caught between a rock and a hard place: click on it and the person dies that much faster, but if they don't click, they don't know and can't help.
Overall, I enjoyed it. A new take on the power of the masses, and perhaps people will think twice before meeting up with a stranger to pick up tickets to a game, or meeting an online date in person. You would think common sense would factor in, but viral marketing plays on the curiosity and the fact that a trusted source has given you the information. You don't know until it is too late.
Rating: G$_G$_G$_G
Well, I've had some time to stop and look around, and wandered down to the local Blockbuster where I got "Untraceable". The movie caught my attention when it was released in the theatre since it was a cinematic take on IT and Privacy Law, which I'm studying in grad school. Basically, a tech-savvy psycho has created a website with a live video feed. He goes out, kidnaps a person, and sets up an elaborate means of torture. One guy gets pumped full of a blood thinning agent, and bleeds from the web address etched into his chest. Another guy dies from overexposure to heated lamps. The scenarios get a little more scary each time.
Now, if that were it, OK, a rather boring twist on an old plot device. However, "Untraceable" tosses in a tech-savvy twist. The more people who visit the website, the faster the person dies. It is death by viral marketing. And there are message boards for each kill. The comments can be a little difficult to read as the camera pans in and out, and the comments scroll quickly as more are added, but you get the sense of the car crash: it is gory, nasty yet you can't help but slow down and look.
Aside from the tech-savvy twist, the writing is also good and the plot comes together very well. I couldn't help but chuckle when Diane Lane's character speaks in tech about a website that just showed a live video of a cat being tortured and killed. Her superior doesn't understand anything about mirror websites or routing, and thinks it's a waste of time since it's just a cat. Then there is the super-techie played by Colin Hanks who is into online dating and avatars. The banter is lively, entertaining and humorous. The speech her superior gives about the website, telling people not to visit it, is a little predictable with its sound bites, but it does serve a point in the overall plot development of the movie. It adds another piece to the puzzle.
You're given the pieces to the puzzle bit by bit, which keeps you riveted. You start to put it together with Diane Lane's character, and though you know she is going to get captured from the previews, the way in which it happens is unnerving. There are lots of little things throughout the movie that make sense by the end, lots of little cues you start rooting to see.
As technology continues to advance, early tech movies like "Hackers" and "The Net" seem dated and humorous now. I get the sense that "Untraceable" will not fall into that bunch; it will remain relevant, perhaps more so as privacy is pushed to the front. Humans are curious, and when friends or coworkers pass around links, you can't help but click on them. Even the FBI, in the movie, wasn't immune. They were sort of caught between a rock and a hard place: click on it and the person dies that much faster, but if they don't click, they don't know and can't help.
Overall, I enjoyed it. A new take on the power of the masses, and perhaps people will think twice before meeting up with a stranger to pick up tickets to a game, or meeting an online date in person. You would think common sense would factor in, but viral marketing plays on the curiosity and the fact that a trusted source has given you the information. You don't know until it is too late.
Rating: G$_G$_G$_G
posted by Gwynne at 5:11 PM
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