Vanessa Haynes
'Willed to Kill', is a suspenseful thriller, that is well acted, & scripted for a TV movie of the week. This movie was engaging, & thanks to the previous reviewer *alannasser*, I did not figure out who the killer was, until the last 15 minutes. This movie follows Detective Karyn Mitchell, & her pursuit of killers. My one main problem regarding this movie is the main character Karyn has shot 3 serial killers, on her own. This is a bit improbable, but I went with it. I was able to suspend my disbelief about this, because Karyn is well played by Sarah Jane Morris, & so I am able to forgive this improbable bit of scripting.Karyn is a savvy detective, who chooses to do things on her own, probably stemming from the fact that when she was a teenager, she discovered her father was a serial killer. She eventually turned him in, he went to prison, and was executed. But Karyn never forgave herself, because during her delay in reporting her father, he killed 3 more innocent people.Now her past motivates her to become the best cop she can be, sometimes even sacrificing her own happiness, so that she can try to protect the innocent from the evil in the world. Karyn arrives at her latest murder investigation, and it has the calling card of the infamous Hades serial killer from the '90's, who was never caught. Along with her partner, Detective Gavin McNabb, they try to determine if this is the same killer from the past, or just a copycat.The killer seems to take a special interest in Karyn. He begins calling her, & seems to have access to privileged information, that he has no business knowing. The killer is also sending letters to the local investigative reporter, who also seems to have private knowledge about Karyn. Everywhere Karyn looks, she is surrounded by suspects...Is it her partner-slash-ex-fiancé, whom she broke up with a year ago? He didn't take the ending of their relationship well, and now feels trapped by another woman he impregnated & feels forced to marry.Is the Hades killer Dr. Aaron Kade, Karyn's psychiatrist? After she was forced to shoot & kill the last murderer she was after, the department required her to seek professional help. The doctor does seem a bit too inquisitive for her taste, & often says inappropriate things, like comparing her to the serial killers she hunts.Is it Floyd, the investigative reporter, who always seems to be one step ahead of the police, and shows up at crime scenes before any of the other press? After all, the killer is sending Floyd letters with information that only the killer would know, or is he? Is it Lieutenant Schneider, who seems to care about Karyn with fatherly concern, but who also removes her from the case, just when she's getting close? Or is it her new boyfriend, Mark Hanson, who she just conveniently met outside of her gym, even though she's never seen him there before? Mark also installed electronics for 2 of the victims, was captured in a photograph of the crowd outside one of the crime scenes, and shares several of the traits with the Hades Killer. Could it be him?This movie has good acting, decent writing, nice pacing, and great reveals. It is a SOLID thriller. Even though lots of the plot points are cliché, the acting more than makes up for this. I also wasn't expecting Oscar winning acting/writing from a Lifetime movie of the week. Please, people, stop expecting Oscar/Emmy performances, and you will enjoy these movies so much more.
Ed-Shullivan
More than anything I dislike when I commit two (2) hours of my time only to find out that the suspect was the most obvious and that this so called "mystery film" was no mystery at all. The main character in this film is the gun toting Boston detective Karyn Mitchell, played with so little character by actress Sarah Jane Morris. I really wanted to enjoy a mystery/thriller that focuses in on a two decade old serial killer named the Hades serial killer. Unfortunately, as the potential suspects kept increasing the actual mystery of the film kept waning.I appreciate that generally speaking, made for TV movies are made within limited time constraints and limited budgets. But why does this type of made for TV serial killer themed film(s) have to not only come with limited intrigue, but also limited acting?I can only imagine how much more interesting this film would have been if someone like Maria Bello, or Kate Beckinsale had accepted the role of lead detective Karyn Mitchell. I can't blame the poor performance all on Sarah Jane Morris. There were other weak acting performances such as with the police forces psychiatrist Doctor Aaron Kade played boringly by actor Michael Riley, and also her love interest what's his name Mark Hanson (hard to remember what scenes he was in as they were the most boring......yaaaaaawwwn) played by Dylan Bruce.Oh, and then came the silly ending when the brilliant detective Karyn Mitchell breaks the case wide open and she brazenly (they say brazen, I would say stupid) approaches her number one suspect without any backup and gets caught with her proverbial pants down (her gun is taken away from her) so we are supposed to be on the edge of our seat. I actually fell off of my chair and my fall woke me up, thus my applying to the Guinness book of records for the longest yawn. The film Willed to Kill has a catchy title, and not much more going for it. I give it a 4/10 for at least trying to create some level of suspense but unfortunately it does not pass the mustard test.
candyapplegrey
Hmm. Don't know about 'Willed to Kill' but watching this may make you lose your will to live. It's the typical serial killer fare but somehow accomplishes the feat of being formulaic and implausible at the same time. Quite an achievement. First of all, it's full of totally lame (and I mean seriously limping) jokes and what the scriptwriters obviously believe is entertaining banter, which is entirely unamusing.The lead character (a female detective) jumps from one wrong conclusion to another, going off gung ho and half-cocked whenever she has a lead, never telling anyone where she's going and quite often endangering herself and others in the process before finally, approximately two hours after the rest of us, working out who is really responsible.The protagonist's stupidity is only surpassed by that of her colleagues who are continually pursuing even less likely suspects than she is. As a consequence, you soon lose interest in who did what or why. I think we're supposed to care about a possible romance between the two leads but as it is, they're so badly written, it's hard to give a damn.Just seen that this movie was actually nominated for an award: Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series. Now that really is a mystery.
guil fisher
Another LMN female playing the lead in tight leather clothes, long blonde stringy hair covering her face and a bad actress on top. Sorry, I get so sick of these blonde bimbos acting tough with guns and karate. It's so unbelievable it's funny.The leading men do far better, even with secondary roles. Notably Michael Riley, Dylan Bruce and Ross McCall. They are much more believable even with the empty headed leading lady.How many more of these older women playing younger roles with bleached blonde long stringy hair do we have to view. I have to admit that the style these days of long hair, mostly unkempt and hanging limp off their heads are getting to be a bore. It's bad enough they are all walking the street but we now are forced to watch them on TV. And it always seems that most of the women are older trying to stay young looking.LMN please lets get some ladies with style and class.
