Tropic Sprockets / Trap

By Ian Brockway

Night Shyamalan is known as a modernist Hitchcock for his twist endings as in his classic “The Sixth Sense.” But in his latest “Trap” about a serial killer suddenly realizing he is being hemmed in, the apprehension loses its charge. This is because the killer is not all that menacing. At times, the sociopath merely seems like a dad with mommy issues. The tension runs light here as this dark man is treated like James Bond. [Showtimes and trailer at Tropiccinema.com.]

Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is a dad taking his starry-eyed daughter (Ariel Donoghue) to a superstar pop concert. Riley, the teen is swooning. But there is a problem: the stadium is crawling with FBI and police. Something is off.

Cooper, unbeknownst to his ecstatic daughter, has a dark side. He is a killer with a penchant for dismemberment. It appears the authorities are lying in wait for him.

There is some suspense as we see the surging crowd under a sea of police blue shirts. The officers all in blue resemble invading beetles in a beehive. Every few minutes a raving man is taken away seemingly for no reason. These are some of the most effective moments as it points to claustrophobia and danger. Hartnett is bathed in blue light. He looks alien and strange.

But whatever tension the film had is lost. As soon as Cooper asks for something, he gets it easily from a walkie talkie to an access card, all without spilling one teaspoon of blood.

Cooper becomes more and more uneasy. He twitches and winces and blinks his eyes, seemingly on the edge of indigestion rather than anything homicidal. Cooper huffs and puffs, clenching his fists while Riley becomes more and more overcome with joy and ecstasy.

Dad leaves the auditorium, marching and huffing like a handsome, big bad wolf.

In the background one can hear the stern voice of criminal psychologist Dr Grant (Hayley Mills). The authorities appear to tighten control, but at the last second, Cooper eludes capture with Hayley Mills in a Donald Pleasance “Halloween” role.

Cooper achieves every sleight of hand within seconds. This film is more a portrait of escape rooms than any analysis of psychopathology.

Night Shyamalan’s daughter Saleka has a solid outing as the pop-star singer Lady Raven and she along with Ariel Donoghue gives the film a bit of pathos, but it isn’t enough to counter Hartnett’s silly facial tics and teary-eyed palm-flexing rages.

Needless to say, Cooper evades capture after capture, presumably on the basis of his good looks.

The intrigue of the film is its commentary of Pop stardom on young teens. Riley is completely enraptured by Lady Raven. Not even the fear of a psychotic dad can lessen her devotion to the Diva singer with the watchful Keane eyes.

For the most part however, the film is more “The Silence of the Hams” than “The Silence of the Lambs”.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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