Mindcage should be called "Silence Of The Lambs-Fallen-Seven Mash-Up" as it combines many elements of those three films and the result is a poor copy which doesn't come close to any of the films it is plagiarising from.

The story is about two detectives: Jake Doyle (Martin Lawrence) & Mary Kelly (Melissa Roxburgh) trying to solve a series of copycat killings. The murderer is copying the methods of a soon to be executed serial killer known as The Artist (John Malkovich) who used to display his victims in an artistic way. So in true silence of the lambs fashion, Detective Kelly goes to interview The Artist in order to get his insight onto who could be behind the murders. It turns out that the imprisoned killer knows far too much about the case and the detectives involved. He is willing to share information bit by bit if his demands are met. Conveniently a high profile person is taken by the copycat and a deal is struck with the artist in order to save her.

MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD: When the detectives find the kidnapped woman, it turns out that Detective Doyle was being possessed by The Artist and he was responsible all along. Sort of like in the movie Fallen staring Denzel Washington. Detective Kelly has to shoot him and Doyle is blamed for the copycat killings. The Artist orchestrated everything to get his sentence changed since he has the ability to possess anyone he has made a sketch or drawing of. Which begs the question why exactly he let himself get caught in the first place if he was supernaturally powerful.

While Malkovich is clearly having fun with the role, the lead detectives can not match him. Martin Lawrence trying to act in a serious role is akin to watching someone who had a mild stroke, got drunk and decided to pretend he was a tormented detective. He mumbles and snarls through what he thinks is dramatic acting. Melissa Roxburgh is slightly better but not exactly nuanced in her performance at times as she goes from calm to manic in order to portray the urgency of the situation. It doesn't really work. She looks like she is having some sort of mood swing. Some of the other actors are fine as are the effects but ultimately they are wasted on what is a jumbled up story with little originality and so many inconsistencies that it's not worth watching.

A female protagonist detective (Mary / Melissa Roxburgh / Manifest) is teaming up with a veteran detective (Jake / Martin Lawrence / Bad Boys) to chase what seem to be a copy-cat killer from one of Jake's old cases. As the investigation goes deeper, more and more eerie details from the past are slowly unveiled, leading up to an unexpected ending. The main, and maybe only, person that can help them is the original killer himself ("The Artist" / John Malkovitch / Being John Malkovitch) which Mary must go into a deep psychological relationship with, in order to get him to shed light on their investigation.

Sounds familiar? Maybe because you've seen movies such as "Silence of the Lambs" or other detective dramas that following similar line. The difference here is that the production quality of "Mindcage" is pisspoor, Lionsgate managed to produce a movie at a Hallmark TV level. The special effects are as if done by a child, the foot chases are laughable and the green-screen (view outside the windows of the car, for example) are almost insulting to the viewer.

That low production quality and lack of good direction, recording and editing, makes the decent main actors performance look childish and amateuristic. The other performances are even worse, not even one of them landing a believable role, the worst offender being the facility's manager (Dr. Loesch / Neb Chupin) which is apparently a network engineer turned actor- somehow I was not surprised to learn that.

You know if you're an actor that is about to play a violinist, you might take a couple of lessons just so it looks good on screen, or if you are going to play a cop, visit a police-station for a day or two so that your demeanor is correct? Well, none of that here, the actors are as if they are pulled from their beds, being dressed with a $50 wardrobe and $10 makeup from Walmart and lights, camera, action...

The low production quality also distracts from the story and it being a bit out-there (no spoilers here- but just to say there is a twist somewhere in there) makes it a bit hard to follow the movie at times, but I made an extra effort to stick around to the end, and if you manage to ignore all the faults of this movie it is not completely un-enjoyable. It's just that there are so many movies better than this one out there to spend your time on.

I hope Melissa Roxburgh lands a better gig next time because she has the quality of a leading actress but with movies like this it is hard lash out a good performance. Guide: No nudity, no sexual situations, but several dead bodies and hints of physical harm. Exact score: 48 / 100.

This movie is a cheap ripoff of SOTL complete with laughably bad script and bad acting all around. I kinda knew this going in but I watched it because I thought it would be good for a laugh, kinda like when I watch a Nick Cage movie. But unfortunately this movie is basically just a dud and not even a So bad it's good movie. Even John Malkovich does a rather humdrum job of portraying a crazed serial killer. The entire project is so amateurishly done that its hard to believe it ever got finished. Any producer should have put this thing out of it's misery early on as it comes across like a high school project by clueless wannabe actors and production people. A very disappointing dumb waste of time.