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Movies / On DVD / Vantage Point
Vantage Point

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Vantage Point (2008)

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Reviews Counted:151

Fresh:53

Rotten:98

Average Rating:5/10

Consensus: Vantage Point has an interesting premise that is completely undermined by fractured storytelling and wooden performances.

Rated: 12A [See Full Rating] for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.

Runtime: 90 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure

Theatrical Release:07-03-2008

Synopsis: A presidential assassination attempt is told from multiple points of view in Pete Travis's directorial debut, VANTAGE POINT. U.S. president Ashton (William Hurt) is in Salamanca, Spain (though much... A presidential assassination attempt is told from multiple points of view in Pete Travis's directorial debut, VANTAGE POINT. U.S. president Ashton (William Hurt) is in Salamanca, Spain (though much of the film was actually shot in Mexico), to announce plans for a major global summit on terrorism. But as he stands behind the podium in front of an adoring crowd (with protesters blocked off from the stage), he is shot twice, followed shortly by a small explosion and then a massive blast. Secret Service Agents Barnes (Dennis Quaid), Taylor (Matthew Fox), and Holden (Richard T. Jones) immediately jump into action, trying to find the terrorists responsible amid all the chaos. The thriller first shows the events through the eyes of television news producer Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver), and then the film rewinds, replaying the action from a different point of view. Each perspective reveals a few more clues, then rewinds again, taking the audience through the assassination attempt and its aftermath again. VANTAGE POINT has the feel of the 1950 Akira Kurosawa classic RASHOMON, told with the speed of the television show 24. The all-star cast also includes Forest Whitaker, who gives another fine performance, playing an American tourist recording everything on his video camera. The rewind device--reminiscent of the Bill Murray comedy GROUNDHOG DAY--could have been gimmicky, but instead Travis and first-time screenwriter Barry L. Levy make it work, as more details are revealed with each flashback, leading to a pulse-pounding chase and surprising finale. [More]

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver

Starring: Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox, Forest Whitaker, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Zoe Saldana

Director: Pete Travis

Director: Pete Travis
Screenwriter: Barry L. Levy
Producer: Neal H. Moritz
Composer: Atli Orvarsson
Studio: Sony Pictures Entertainment

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Reviews for Vantage Point

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

The information sorting and gathering required by Barry L. Levy's screenplay feels like night school as opposed to a great night out at the movies.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
02/21/08
Michael Phillips
Michael Phillips
Chicago Tribune

A story that could easily (and more effectively) have been told in about half the time.

Full Review Source: Las Vegas Weekly | comment Comment
02/21/08
Josh Bell
Josh Bell
Las Vegas Weekly

Disappointing action flick centers on terrorism.

Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | comment Comment
02/21/08
Sandie Angulo Chen
Sandie Angulo Chen
Common Sense Media

An assassination thriller that boasts the glossy tourist vistas of an airline magazine combined with a serious case of instant-replay-itis.

Full Review Source: Newsday | comment Comment
02/21/08
Jan Stuart
Jan Stuart
Newsday

Vantage Point offers a modicum of entertainment but it requires viewers to react more forcefully from the gut than the mind. It's viscerally effective but lobotomized.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
02/21/08
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews

The bones of a good idea for a conspiracy thriller lie buried in the corpse of Vantage Point. It feels more like a movie with a personality disorder.

Full Review Source: San Jose Mercury News | comment Comment
02/21/08
Bruce Newman
Bruce Newman
San Jose Mercury News

Offers less entertainment than just awareness of how nearly every American male role seems like it was intended for Harrison Ford.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
02/21/08
Matt Pais
Matt Pais
Metromix.com

The question regarding Vantage Point is how this thriller with the Groundhog Day fixation was allowed to meander out of Columbia Pictures so overloaded with bad acting.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
02/21/08
John Anderson
John Anderson
Washington Post

Nothing in Vantage Point quickens the pulse as much as the realization that, with each successive turn of the wheel, we come one step closer to the end.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
02/21/08
Scott Foundas
Scott Foundas
L.A. Weekly

The setup is so riveting, the suspense so carefully prolonged, that I didn't mind when it unraveled into lunacy near the end.

Full Review Source: Charlotte Observer | comment Comment
02/21/08
Lawrence Toppman
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer

The problem with Vantage Point, or at least one problem, is that it depends too much on coincidence. The film relies on things breaking a certain way for nearly every plot advancement.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
02/21/08
Bill Goodykoontz
Bill Goodykoontz
Arizona Republic

What Travis has done is nothing short of create a new kind of American action film that feels European in the same way that William Friedkin's "French Connection" did.

Full Review Source: ColeSmithey.com | comment Comment
02/21/08
Cole Smithey
Cole Smithey
ColeSmithey.com

Cool game plan on paper, unfortunately, the execution lacks. Further, this is not the subject matter with which to play games.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
02/21/08
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Once the full panoply of bad guys is disclosed, the movie becomes just another absurdly prolonged hot pursuit, complete with a lost little girl for a dollop of extra melodrama.

Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
02/21/08
Kevin Lally
Kevin Lally
Film Journal International

A tight, solid mystery/thriller that keeps you guessing until the end.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
02/21/08
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

...a marketing hook first and a movie ... well, actually, never.

Full Review Source: Sun Publications (Chicago, IL) | comment Comment
02/21/08
Josh Larsen
Josh Larsen
Sun Publications (Chicago, IL)

The ending, suffice it to say, is one you won't soon forget no matter how much you'll want to.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
02/20/08
Rebecca Murray
Rebecca Murray
About.com

Choppy, point-of-view twisting thriller that never rises above its gimmickry.

Full Review Source: Big Picture Big Sound | comment Comment
02/20/08
Joe Lozito
Joe Lozito
Big Picture Big Sound

Starts off well but then tries to replicate the fast-paced frenzy of The Bourne Ultimatum with an improbable car chase.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
02/20/08
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

Alas, this well-crafted terrorist plot is sandwiched between two terrible acts, making for the kind of movie that you should walk into late and sneak out of early.

Full Review Source: MSNBC | comment Comment
02/20/08
Alonso Duralde
Alonso Duralde
MSNBC
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 >> >|
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Latest News for Vantage Point

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