Watchably silly at best, it's the political thriller as an unintentional comedy of errors - 24 meets Noises Off.
Vantage Point (2008)
Runtime: 90 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 7, 2008
Blu-ray Disc Features:
- Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English, French, Portuguese, Spanish
- Subtitles - Chinese, English, French, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish - Optional
Reviews
Vantage Point might sound intriguing on paper but it's all gimmick and not a lot of substance.
As much as we'd like to see an American president made accountable, we don't have to see it over and over and over again.
The stories are cleverly interwoven, with a couple of unexpected twists, and the patient viewer is rewarded with a doozy of a car chase in the last reel.
Although mounted with no little efficiency by director Pete Travis (who previously made the TV drama-doc ‘Omagh’), the narrative enterprise actually hides a one-dimensional world view, with civilian casualties mere background set dressing.
It charms - despite hitting the odd seam of schmaltz - and teenagers will find much to tempt them away from their X-Boxes and PSPs.
As daft as it all becomes, Vantage Point is never dull. Approach it like a double-bill of 24 and there’s enough excitement to overcome the clichés, particularly during the climactic car chase.
Some okay thrills with good performances and some smarts. But the last reel plunge spoils things.
There's an interesting idea here, showing a major political event from various perspectives until we finally get to the real story. The problem is that the real story is rather contrived.
This is satisfying Friday night popcorn fare - slick and noisy and utterly disposable.
If you thought 24's perspective on terrorism was, well, limited, get ready to groan. The meat and potatoes of Vantage Point -- the suicide bomb explosions, the bloody fisticuffs and blaring car chases -- are indeed awesome, and that's what truly matters f
Those inclined to scrutinize the logic of Barry Levy's screenplay are likely to come away as baffled by its farfetched twists as amused by its bombastic excesses.
Vantage Point takes a pretty high concept, dribbles a bunch of red herrings all over it, and makes things go boom, reaping better yields than the average TV show.
When you wrap a movie around a gimmick, the wrapping better be taut and engaging or the gimmick falls flat.
As Vantage Point becomes increasingly busy with personal betrayals and redemptions, the ostensible politics, reductive to begin with, fall by the wayside.
With a little more work this could have been a first-rate thriller along the lines of the Bourne films, because the concept is intriguing and our interest is held for a significant part of the film.
There's roughly 20 minutes of story here, and no matter how many times they stop and start over again from an even more preposterous angle, it's still going to play out like a lousy episode of 24.
If you're watching for perfectly matched action you're not into the mystery and you probably aren't going to be very sympathetic to the effort involved.
Writer Barry Levy has added some snap, crackle and pop to what would otherwise be a routine action film had it been presented in chronological order.
A curta duração e o ritmo constantemente frenético do filme mantêm o espectador atento e interessado, mesmo que o objeto de tanta atenção não faça muito sentido em retrospecto.
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