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Amazon.co.uk review
Vantage Point, which aspires to be a cunningly twisted thriller, comes equipped with plenty of hurtling action, handheld camerawork, what-was-that? editing, and a plot that has multiple, contradictory agendas writhing like a nest of snakes. It's all set within a few blocks of a town square in Spain where a U.S. President is targeted for assassination. Although the movie lasts 90 minutes, the events it depicts are mostly over within fifteen minutes or so--but seen, rewound, and reseen from half a dozen different (you guessed it) vantage points. The first line in the credits reads "Original Film," apparently the name of the production company. "Gimmick Movie" might be more accurate. The opening reel, effectively jolting, affords an initial overview of the events through the eyes, lenses, monitors, and duelling sensibilities of a TV news producer (Sigourney Weaver), her activist-minded reporter (Zoe Saldana) and crew. Everybody’s in Salamanca for the start of an international conference to reaffirm Arab-Western commitment to the fight against terrorism. Terrorism, of course, sees this as an ideal moment to break out. As gunshots and explosions reduce everything to chaos, the clock is reset to zero and we proceed to revisit the scene as experienced by several Secret Service agents (namely Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), an American tourist with camcorder (Forest Whitaker), sundry locals--including three who may be caught up in a love triangle or a conspiracy or both--and even the President himself (William Hurt).
For a while, this is mildly diverting: that guy, or that gesture, so sinister when glimpsed across the plaza in one run-through, now appears harmless in closeup--or vice versa. But there's no real ambiguity (so stop with the careless comparisons to Kurosawa's Rashomon)--this is a shell game in which the peas aren't worth tracking. Despite decent actors, the characters might as well be holograms (although poor Forest Whitaker is saddled with "motivation" of surpassing sappiness), and the casting telegraphs several twists: one redoubtable good guy practically gives a wink-wink, nudge-nudge that he's really bad, etc. The movie declines to specify which nutjob philosophy the terrorists espouse, and their numbers are multi-ethnic. There's also a laborious suggestion that they have bloodthirsty, reactionary counterparts among the President's inner circle, which perhaps qualifies as redeeming socio-political comment and prompts a meaningless declaration of deep meaning from the Prez. The whole megilleh finally comes down to an extended car chase through impassably claustrophobic streets that would mark a lurch into unintentional self-parody--if only that point hadn't been passed a couple of rewinds earlier. --Richard T. Jameson
Product Description
Dennis Quaid, William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver, Forest Whitaker, Zoe SaldanaDirectors: Pete Travis
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Folly of Man,
By Sam "samueltyler" (Reading, Berkshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vantage Point [Blu-ray] [2008][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
Vantage point is a modern day Hitchcock type film that revels in things not being as they first seem. From the initial viewing of events we assume the the President of America has been shot and that at least one bomb has been activated. Over the following 90 minutes we will discover the varying types of truth as the film follows numerous people through the event. As we uncover new avenues what we saw previously takes on new significance.
I felt that 'Vantage Point' was a solid, if not spectacular, action thriller. The style of re-showing the same events from different points of view does work and is not boring at all. The issue I had with the film was that it eventually abandoned the structure for a generic finale. I also felt that although overall the acting was good there were a few miscast people, especially the female news presenter. Finally, although the film is meant to be serious some of the situations were a bit ridiculous with characters (i.e. men) doing stuff for stupid reasons. Overall, a fun film, but not much more. The BluRay transfer is a good one with some interesting extras including a GPS system that allows you to follow the characters whereabouts as the film progresses.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Very clever - much underrated movie,
By Mick Regolg (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Vantage Point [Blu-ray] [2008][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
A superb cast, an interesting story line presented in an unusual manner: a cerebral (as in "not mindless") production that stimulates the mind. Even our jaded 15-year old said after having watched the movie, "wow, that was really interesting!".
The way the film is layered from different peoples' points of view (hence its name) cleverly demonstrates that not always all is what it seems. Very enjoyable, and a steal at £7. The Blue-Ray video quality is great and the 5.1 soundtrack life-like. Highly recommended.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
8 Strangers. 8 Points of View. 1 Truth makes.....,
By
This review is from: Vantage Point [Blu-ray] [2008][Region Free] (Blu-ray)
'Vantage Point' a solid film. It has a fast-paced, action-cum-political thriller that reaches out to those who enjoy gun fights and car chases but want substance when it comes to the plot and characters. The film centers on the story of the attempted assassination of the American president just as he's about to address a peace conference in Spain. We see the perspective of eight people caught up in the events, from the terrorists themselves to CIA agents to ordinary citizens, with each person holding a piece of the puzzle that comes neatly together to deliver the end result.
The cast all succeed in their roles, which wasn't easy considering they couldn't rely on interaction with other characters to hold them up and so much of the film relies on each actor delivering their part of the story in a solid manner. Dennis Quaid and Forest Whitaker were both excellent in their respective roles as two men who are heroes in different ways while Saïd Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer and Edgar Ramirez did well in providing the backbone of the film. Since the film rewinds several times there is little room for characterization, the only attempts at this were brief and focused on Forest Whitaker and Dennis Quaid 'Vantage Point' took a plot and portrayed it in a unique approach, which is partially why I felt it was so entertaining. It kept me on tenterhooks throughout, especially as I waited to see how each character fitted into the story (although, such a way of filming could bore audiences fast if other films decided to copy). While the actual plot was a tad unrealistic and wrapped up in a too convenient manner, I think we accept that this is the norm for most actions films and that is part of what makes them fun. We see enough realism in the news, after all. And the action scenes are shot for maximum entertainment, particularly the car chase which was thrilling without dragging on. Overall, this is an enjoyable film, an intelligent action flick that is short and sweet. It's also of the few films these days which addresses the terrorism threat to the Western World without spoon feeding us some over-emphasized point or descending into anti-Americanism. Definitely worth a look.
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