Talk about a wasted opportunity to make something profound.

I just finished watching this, and wow, what a mess. I don't even know where to begin. I suppose I'll make a couple quick comments about the casting; Sam Worthington is not a good actor. He lacks charisma (as evident by that awful accent that he couldn't even maintain throughout the movie); his body language--particularly his facial mannerisms--which are about as cardboard and jaded as they can get--showcasing exactly why he doesn't have what it takes to be a supporting actor, let alone a leading one. He's abysmal, plain and simple.

Jessica Chastain was wasted. She makes the most out of the minimalistic characterization that her character receives--but all in all--it's a waste of time for someone who appears to have quite a promising career in front of them. I'm reluctant to call her a great actress, seeing as I fear she'll fall into the Hollywoodization stigma that plagues so many actors after they've tasted any bit of real success.

Chloe Moretz, who I keep hearing is the next big thing. You know, the same sentiments that were being echoed by so many when it came to the likes of Dakota Fanning, Kristen Stewart and Saoirse Ronan--but what are they really doing? Oh, that's right; cashing checks for the sh!tty Stephenie Meyer movies that they keep participating in. But in Chloe's defense, she's yet to go down that road. I can't really judge her as an actress based off this small sample, as similar to Chastain, she was completely wasted.

That's when you know you know you have a mess on your hands. Chloe, who plays the role of Anne Sliger, is supposed to be the key ingredient to making this film's recipe work. She's the heart of the story--the interconnecting device which links her to the film's two lead detectives--which is ultimately supposed to justify this film even existing. Unfortunately, all you get are a couple of sequences of Anne and Detective Brian Heigh "bonding"--for lack of a better term--but in actuality, those scenes are so narratively vapid--so devoid of substance--that as an audience member you can't find a single iota of emotion to invest in either of them.

So what does that lead to when Anne turns out to be the last girl abducted and taken to the killing fields? Why should I care? Is it because she comes from what appears to be a broken home, despite the fact that similar to how we never really see Anne and Detective Heigh developing a bond between one another, we also don't see enough of her home life to allow her character to resonate within us? This is what happens when you take what should've been a great idea for a movie and completely desensitize it for the audience. What could've been a profoundly engaging film turned out to be nothing more than a by-the-numbers take on a genre of filmmaking that is already flooded with trash like this.

Oh, and how about the technical side of this film? You would think with Michael Mann producing this it would've at least had decent editing, but instead we get a completely disjointed film that is so sloppily put together, it practically serves as the sole reason why so many people have complained about its incoherence. Not to mention the inconsistent camerawork; there are times where we get some enthralling shots of the actual killing fields--and then at other times we get unnecessary lunging zooms, as well as the poor shot composition during the brief shootout toward the end of the movie's second act.

Altogether, the film falls short in almost every category. While I wouldn't call this film an outright disaster, it's a bit baffling how it turned out to be as bad as it was when you consider the apparent talent involved. It just sucks that you have this abjectly profound material which you could've structured the film around but instead it accumulates to nothing more than a wasted opportunity. It's frustrating.

Think about 'The Lovely Bones'; 'The Killing'; and all these other titles which have been based around a similar concept... they always f-ck it up. This could've been used as an acting vehicle for Chloe Moretz--an opportunity to really strut her stuff and prove she has talent--a chance to flesh out her character's arc and really give the audience a reason to not only care about her, but also care about the concept of the killing fields itself--but instead we got the banalest film imaginable.

Just imagine the profundity this film could've had if it followed a similar template as 'Snowtown/The Snowtown Murder.' There was so much potential here and it was completely wasted.