Untraceable is a suspense crime thriller movie about a deranged killer using the Internet for evil. The victims are strapped to a mechanical contraption that is hooked up to a computer, streaming the video of the victim’s death over the Internet. As more people log on to watch, the victim dies faster.

Yes, that is a mouse pointer over her lips. No, I didn’t Photoshop that in. Yes, that damn pointer does make the movie cover look incredibly stupid. No, I don’t know why they did that. And yes, the person that came up with the idea should be killed.

The movie is suspenseful but I wouldn’t exactly call it a thriller. The contraptions used to kill the victims are interesting, except for the last one. The plot felt like it moved on rails, with no surprises or twists. This is due partly to the trailers and TV commercials shown for the movie. The trailers already hinted at the fact that the killer would be going after the main character so there was no surprise or shock when it happens. And most movies won’t kill off single moms with a daughter, so you kinda expected she won’t be killed.

As with most Hollywood movies, the portrayal of technology has left me feeling somber. The title of the movie refers to how the almighty FBI can’t trace the origins of the broadcast. The crack shot FBI cyber team running a whois on the domain is one of their top investigative moves. They throw in some buzz words like virtual machine, trojans, TLS, and DNS. Movie studios hire physicists to ensure their movies are scientifically believable, why not hire a network consultant?

Score: B