""He's like a hermit crab"," mutters FBI profiler Illeana Scott (Angelina Jolie). ""He outgrows his shell and looks for another"." No surprise that she's talking about Hollywood's latest serial killer, a screwed-up sicko who's (fittingly) assumed his MO - - filching his victims' identities - - from another movie (The Talented Mr Ripley).
Rounding up a quality cast to play out a bunch of scenes you've witnessed before, DJ Caruso's thriller (here presented in a slightly extended director's cut) ain't original. It is relatively effective, though, mechanically pushing buttons as Jolie helps the Montreal police wade through a pulpy trail, usually by torchlight. Highlights include a couple of decent chases and Angelina getting jiggy with Ethan Hawke's key witness amid grisly crime-scene photos. Lowlights? Some gaping plotholes and a final act that's pure hokum.
DVD Extras:
A mirthless gag reel and Crime Lab, a smiley-faced doc that snags the cast and crew for 20 minutes of routine back-slaps. Hilariously, producer Mark Canton claims that Taking Lives "raises the bar". That'll be knee-high, then.
