Lets itself down

Rating: 6/10 (5 February 2004)

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)
Identity is another example of a film suffering from the 'Sixth Sense Syndrome', where a movie cannot resist throwing a number of plot twists into the closing chapter - whether they add to the picture or not.
The film starts brightly - quickly getting into the story and cleverly showing how all of the characters' actions led to the group coming together. The following hour keeps the tension up, with a number of red-herrings thrown into the mixture to ensure this is not your average run-of-the-mill murder mystery. The dark and stormy surroundings also work wonders, complimenting the remote location to create a really nervy atmosphere. Then it gets weird.
Don't get me wrong: I liked the death-row convict/psychosis revelation, and felt it - initially - added to an already entertaining and original picture. However, the writers obviously felt this alone was enough to satisfy the audience and did not put the effort into successfully integrating it into the plot of the rest of the movie. Really, this shock should have been brought in 20-30 minutes earlier (or the run-time extended by this amount), allowing it to develop into the story and not just appear as a tacked-on afterthought. Regrettably, Identity nose-dives from this point on, with twist after surprise after shock crammed into the remaining minutes, making redundant the great work that had preceded it and leaving you feeling like you've just watched a slightly more bizarre conclusion to 'Along Came A Spider'. The less said about the final couple of scenes, the better.

Could've been good, but one or two plot twists too far render Identity into just the 'watchable' category.
6/10