Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) are two Secret Service agents assigned to protect President Ashton at a landmark summit on the global war on terror. When President Ashton is shot moments after his arrival in Spain, chaos ensues and disparate lives collide in the hunt for the assassin. In the crowd is Howard Lewis, an American tourist who thinks he's captured the shooter on his camcorder while videotaping the event for his kids back home. Also there is American TV news producer Rex Brooks, relaying the historic event to millions of TV viewers across the globe. As they and others reveal their stories, the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place - and it will become apparent that shocking motivations lurk just beneath the surface.
Instead of going to see "The Other Boelyn Girl", because I just wasn't in the mood for royal intrigue, no matter how delicious, I went and saw "Vantage Point", and though the first 1/2 hour dragged a bit because of the Rashomon elements to the film - which meant we were seeing the same scene 8 different ways - it finally kicked into high gear and got kinda interesting.
What I liked:
- the action scenes, especially the car chases - they got my adrenaline pumping
- Dennis Quaid, because I've liked several of his movies, and he definitely makes the film work here. He's like the perfect American hero.
- Sigourney Weaver, the strong female character who is compassionate when she needs to be. Wish her role had been more significant here.
- Forest Whitaker, who is truly amazing in whatever he does, that no matter how small the role may seem, I'm compelled to watch him (sidenote: did you know he was set to play the character of Sawyer in "Lost"? What a different angle that would bring to the series versus Josh Holloway, now wouldn't it?)
- Eduardo Noriega, because he made me sympathize with his character, and well, cuz he's hot, and there should always be a hot guy in every movie.
What I didn't like:
- eight (8!) different angles of the same scene took too long to tell. It makes sense to piece together the story, and to see what was going on in those few moments, but I was getting impatient for it to move on. Enough was enough.
- too many unanswered questions about the group that shot at the President and staged the whole thing. I hate not knowing the purpose behind such a big conspiracy. In some movies, gray areas work because there's more to the story - we know it's ongoing, but in this type of film, it should be spelled out. That's just the way it is as far as I see it.
- that it is forgettable. It's like junk food, serves its purpose to fill you up and then you move on with those empty calories. Basically, I can live without seeing this movie again.
Final thoughts: like I said, the action is great, especially on the big screen. but you still might want to wait for it to come out on DVD.
Rating: ***1/2 out of *****
posted by Stacy~ at 3/03/2008 05:07:00 AM
