Killer Heat

I give it a 6.8. I don't get why this movie has such a low rating. It's not a groundbreaking plot or one filled with a bunch of twists but it's not crap either. The mystery aspect of the story I doubt you'll be guessing either. (Which I believe is or almost is the most important part of a mystery movie.) It's a detective story through n through. The acting is also pretty solid, no one had a bad performance. I think Shailene Woodley always gives as great performance, which was also true here. Joseph-Gordon Levitt was pretty good. Was t his best work but wasn't bad either. Visually the movie is also pleasing. Some great shots on a beautiful island.

I don't mind a mystery where I predict the end so long as I enjoy the ride getting there. That's the case for this movie.

It's marketed as noir so, like almost all noir, I predicted the end before I even pressed play. That's the problem with the genre. It has such predictable tropes that you hardly need to know anything about it to guess the ending. And this movie really embraced the classic tropes, which is one reason I liked it, and another reason I found it so predictable.

That said, the setting in Greece, the slow and steady pacing, the enigmatic characters... they made this an enjoyable film to watch. The acting was decent and so was the writing. These days, with the constant churn of streaming content where quantity matters over quality, that means something.

It just didn't have any real heart. It was lackluster at every turn occasionally however, some bright spots shown through. A line here a line there.

Beautifully shot in a beautiful location, the cinematography was absolutely great. I just wish they had cut at least 10 minutes out of the film because most Of the character interactions were just fluff, not to mention long periods of nothing happening on screen, for instance, long zooming in shots or too many aerials, looking straight down. It seemed to undermine the setting and atmosphere the creators desired. It was too opposing ideas that couldn't work together.

I will say this, all of the acting was superb, and the choice of actors and characters involved was unique.

The son of a wealthy family on Greece's island falls fatally while rock climbing. The death is determined as an accident. But his twin brother's wife believes that he was murdered. So she hires a PI to find the murderer.

One of the drawbacks of Killer Heat is the suspects, ie. Not enough red herring because the list is short. As a commonly noir, "half-boiled" detective story, there is the monologue voiceover, half of the time focusing on the PI past, which explains that he is the jealousy type, which helps his line of work -- recognizing the subtle hint that arouses suspicion.

I rarely guess the whodunnit correctly in most movies, though not this one. But probably that's not the point. It's poetic, which brings:

With its unique theme, I believe Killer Heat has potential, but why it misses the target I don't know -- either a little short deficient writing or it's just not working great for screen.

I enjoyed some scenes but was numb with the rest. It is a half-forgettable movie, though I will remember the three actors who have ever been in this one when I see them next in other movies.

A mystery so trite that you see all the (very few) twists from very far and in fact the twist is that there is no surprise at all. Not that it makes any sense by the way when you think about it for one second. This movie is so cliche it borders on parody but it takes itself very seriously.

I guess this was an excuse for all involved to have a vacation in Crete, maybe a tax scheme for the producers also, otherwise no idea why this movie even exists.

It's not even awful. It's ok and if you never saw a whodunit in your life I guess there are worse things to watch but in any other case don't bother.