| Product: |
Vantage Point (DVD) |
| Date: |
08/05/08 (135 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Good cast, reanable story, fast pace, excellent cinematography
Disadvantages: Could have maybe had a more complex plot
With the President of America attending an International terrorist summit in Spain, security is very tight. That doesn't, however, stop a group of terrorists from assassinating the President while he is speaking at the summit. The assassination and resulting events are told from 8 different perspectives as the story unfolds to the viewer. With each change of perspective we find out more clues and facts about the assassination and with each one there is also another little twist or turn that certainly wasn't expected.
I'd heard a few promising things before I actually went to see this, but I have to say nothing quite prepared me for how good this film actually was. There was a lot of potential for the story to get lost or become too confusing given the number of different points of view. The film itself concentrates on an hour long period on the day of the Summit and unveils more of the story as you get further into it, which I actually felt worked really well. The real selling point for the film has to be the way it is shot though and that really makes it stand out as something a little different.
It is the first time I've come across director Pete Travis, who seems to have predominantly done work on TV shows. Before I had actually seen the movie I was intrigued as to how the concept of this movie would actually work. The idea of showing the same events 8 times in one film would perhaps seem a little extreme, but Travis actually manages to add something fresh to each different perspective, keeping the audience interested in what is happening. His use of different camera angles and each individual persons view point means that he could add same, but significant plot twists into the film, without revealing them too early.
There was a little room for improvements in the script, however I think if the plot had been changed anymore it may not have worked so well. One of the keys I felt for this movie was that although the plot was quite involved, had it been any more complicated it would have made this a very hard movie to follow. The writer and director would be risking alienating a large proportion of the movie going audience by making the film too complicated and I think this, if anything is perhaps were the movie falls down as a more complex plot would have made it even better. It is however a narrow line over the benefit of doing this and as a first real attempt at this type of film making I think they've made the right choice.
If there was one decision they most certainly got right in my eyes it would be with the cast. There isn't really a lead role in the movie, with the 8 different vantage points it makes everyone of the characters a lead for a part of the movie. I was particularly impressed with Forest Whitaker who seems to be really enhancing an already impressive acting career. His performance is assured and I would say is easily the best of all the actors on display. He plays an awestruck American tourist and does so with great conviction, in a way you tend to regularly see American tourists in European cities.
The rest of the cast were equally believable in their roles and like Whitaker there were real standout performances from Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox as the Presidents secret service agents. It is a very good cast which also includes William Hunt and Sigourney Weaver who all play their parts very well. Unlike a traditional movie there isn't a great deal of detailed characterisation, however you are given just enough back story on each character to enable you to form an opinion on them and try and work out what they will do next.
Overall while I thought there was the potential to have a more complex plot the director and writer have made the right choice, This is a film made for a wide audience and any attempts to add anything more too it would probably leave many viewers confused and lost. What they have done instead is make a film that is simple enough for the majority of people to watch without losing track of what is happening, but still stay true to a solid thriller base. The repetitive nature of the film showing the same scene over and over again may not be to everyone's liking but it's a concept that works well and develops the plot, whilst running in at a very reasonable 90 minute run time. If you like to think about what's happening in a movie and guess what will be happening next then I think you'll enjoy Vantage Point.
Summary: A unquie filming style with 8 different views of one event
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