You won't be disappointed!

Charming and brutal

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

"A serial killer is on the road, killing and taking over lives of his victims. Time is ticking down before he claims his next victim and identity"Right from the beginning, I liked this movie. The two actors who we're introduced to are Justin Chatwin and Paul Dano. Dano would go onto to play a role in the 2013 film Prisoners in a very similar role while Chatwin would go on to ruin my CHILDHOOD!!! Uhhhumm. Excuse me.The introduction to this movie lulls you into a sense of comfort but then violently shifts you into how a majority of the rest of the film will be played out. Starts with two great actors, great music and a real sense of out in the wilderness with no one around. The opening credits has a very Se7en feel to it and the introduction and some of the settings and dialogue that comes up in the first third of the film is very reminiscent to Silence of the Lambs.Basic premise of the movie is Asher (Dano) kills people he watches and stalks and assumes their identity. He keeps jumping from person to person trying to leave his former life behind. Angelina Jolie plays an FBI agent who is brought in to help profile and catch the killer. Ethan Hawke plays a character who is brought in for questioning after he witnesses someone being killed. After the first half hour/45 minutes, the movie begins to lose some of it's luster in my opinion with me. I understand that it needs to progress and the plot needs to advance but placing your number one witness in a club to lure out a potential serial killer isn't the best idea.The movie's false ending (Yeah, you read that right. If you haven't picked up on the twist yet, you're not paying attention) culminates with what appears to be the killer kidnapping Hawke's character and leading cops on a high speed chase which ends in a car accident where the killer dies. Everything seems like it is cleared up and Angelina Jolie falls for the victim. At the hospital, the killer's mother comes to verify the body but says the the dead person isn't her son. Hawke then murders his mother in an elevator and escapes. That's right, Ethan Hawke was the killer all along.The movie really ends with Jolie being kicked out of the FBI, pregnant with Hawke's babies and living on her own in Pennsylvania. Hawke tracks her down to rekindle their romance but ultimately decides to try to kill Jolie. He stabs her in the stomach but finds out that she really isn't pregnant when she removes the scissors and stabs him with them. She tells him that the past 7 months had all been a ploy to get him to come back out of hiding.I really liked the first half hour or so of this movie. As I said above, it felt gritty and dirty and something you could accept as the next chapter in the Hannibal saga. I really like FBI profiler and in depth agent movies like this, Red Dragon and Mindhunters where killers motives are questioned and they try to find out why it's happening but also find the killer at the same time.Something that is almost as good as that is Angelina Jolie. I never really thought of her as super sexy or anything but this movie has pushed me over to the other side. I have been missing out on her sex appeal and it was top notch in this movie. Thinking almost the entire movie "Man, she is super sexy" and "I'd definitely would want to get with her" we are actually paid off and she a nude scene with her around 1 hour and 11 minutes in (You're welcome!)What I didn't like was the ending. By about 40 minutes left, if you hadn't already figured out the ending for the most part, it is thrown right in your face. I didn't really like that they put a face on who you thought could be the killer. By casting Keifer Sutherland in a role where it looked like he was the killer and to do it so early in the movie cut out some of the intrigue. I loved not knowing who the killer could be. Asher took on so many identities he could be anyone. They even still played with this at the very end when the French Canadian Cop had that stick in his mouth and took it out seemingly to tie it in a fashion like Jolie found in Asher's mothers house.I felt like the ending should have been abrupt and left us shocked. Instead, it happened, then explained itself, then let that marinate and finally decided "Ok, now here's the payoff". In reality, we didn't need payoff. The Asher character was good because we 'didn't know' who it was and it could end up being anyone. He has for years been able to just slip in and out of lives without ever being caught and that's how I felt it should have ended. The actual ending is not bad and was even a good twist but in this movie, it didn't seem like it was needed.I'll say watch this movie if you're really into serial killer movies and like seeing their personality examined. Plus, you get boobs. Really hot and sexy boobs. Just saying.

Taking Lives (2004) for it's time was a very well made film, even looking at this film lately I still enjoyed it. Angelina Jolie has always been an amazing actress and to have Ethan Hawke just made it even better. Now in comparative to other films within this time and of course on the same genre and similar story Taking Lives still stood up to the rest. For the most part the story was fairly good, a few wholes in the dialog, and of course a few of the cast there could've been better but all and all the film was a fair one.I've always liked these type of stories in a movie, and of course the thriller based suspense murder films have always got my attention, this is one that I can say I thoroughly enjoyed for what it was.

Taking Lives (2004): Dir: D.J. Caruso / Cast: Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Gena Rowlands, Kiefer Sutherland, Olivier Martinez: Disappointing thriller about identity. It opens in 1983 where the killer first strikes causing an accident and consuming the identity of the victim. The case builds over the years with male victims with their face smashed in with their identity stolen. Gena Rowlands is cast as a woman who believes that it is her surviving twin son whom she hasn't had contact with for years. Angelina Jolie plays a profile expert on serial killers who is to assist in the case. Here is a thriller satisfied in jerking viewers around with its totally obvious revelations. Director D.J. Caruso brings style to the material but even his flashy lead fails to ignite life into this charade of shame. Prior to this he directed a lot of television that may very well be better than the material he deals with here. Jolie is suppose to be seen as this brilliant expert but the ending she plans out is total bull, and screwing the male lead is too cliché. Ethan Hawke is an an art dealer questioned by police but he is basically there to share the sack with Jolie. Gena Rowlands is seen briefly but who gives a crap, and Kiefer Sutherland is too obvious and we don't care about that either. Typical thriller that doesn't serve as an analysis. No, it serves as a total waste of time that is taking our lives when we plunk down and watch it. Score: 3 / 10

This psychological thriller was marketed with the tag line "He would kill to be you"... Although the reasons and background were only briefly disclosed and most of the times is spent on revealing the "outcomes" of a serial killer. The main stars Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke are doing fine, but their performances are not among their best ones. Use of Kiefer Sutherland was strange - he is capable of filling the whole movie, not just appearing briefly on screen (he does this giftedly, though). Paul Dano is also worth mentioning, he has become on the most talented 20+ years old actors. The others have quite ordinary characters.Recommendable for killing time, but it is no Se7en or similar. Just another above-average serial killer chase with feelings involved; there are some twists and turns and an ending scene is unpredictable, but still.