I admit that I was not giving this film my full attention, but then it never demanded it. The film revolves around an assassination attempt of the US president in Salamanca, Spain. It's an interesting concept revolving around vieiwng the event from the perspective of several different people. The concept itself is nothing new, but it always makes for an interesting whodunnit. But whodonewhat? The individual stories each tell a certain part of the story, however this is never fully exploited, we rarely see alternate angles revealing something previously unknown or assumed, timelines seem staggered and the story really just unfolds in a linear fashion. This is nothing like the sublimity of Christopher Nolan's Memento. So, that's the primary selling point out of the way, what else is there? Well, unfortunately, very little. The film plays like an episode of 24, or Lost or Prison Break. It has that same feel, only you know you aren't in it for the long run and you don't really care, so tension is never built (except the car chase, which was pretty good.) And when characters are in an unfortunate situation, you don't really care. In fact I wanted it to end like The Departed, with Forest Whitaker in shoe covers instead of Marky Mark. Whilst I'm talking about characters I should really mention that this film has none. The film was so much about this vantage point concept that all (and I mean all) characters are flat, uninteresting and lacking in context, and their personalities are revealed only fleetingly. That, coupled with the simple plot, issues of believablility and cut and paste character traits, make this film one to miss.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Film Review: Vantage Point (2008)
Director: Pete Travis
I admit that I was not giving this film my full attention, but then it never demanded it. The film revolves around an assassination attempt of the US president in Salamanca, Spain. It's an interesting concept revolving around vieiwng the event from the perspective of several different people. The concept itself is nothing new, but it always makes for an interesting whodunnit. But whodonewhat? The individual stories each tell a certain part of the story, however this is never fully exploited, we rarely see alternate angles revealing something previously unknown or assumed, timelines seem staggered and the story really just unfolds in a linear fashion. This is nothing like the sublimity of Christopher Nolan's Memento. So, that's the primary selling point out of the way, what else is there? Well, unfortunately, very little. The film plays like an episode of 24, or Lost or Prison Break. It has that same feel, only you know you aren't in it for the long run and you don't really care, so tension is never built (except the car chase, which was pretty good.) And when characters are in an unfortunate situation, you don't really care. In fact I wanted it to end like The Departed, with Forest Whitaker in shoe covers instead of Marky Mark. Whilst I'm talking about characters I should really mention that this film has none. The film was so much about this vantage point concept that all (and I mean all) characters are flat, uninteresting and lacking in context, and their personalities are revealed only fleetingly. That, coupled with the simple plot, issues of believablility and cut and paste character traits, make this film one to miss.
I admit that I was not giving this film my full attention, but then it never demanded it. The film revolves around an assassination attempt of the US president in Salamanca, Spain. It's an interesting concept revolving around vieiwng the event from the perspective of several different people. The concept itself is nothing new, but it always makes for an interesting whodunnit. But whodonewhat? The individual stories each tell a certain part of the story, however this is never fully exploited, we rarely see alternate angles revealing something previously unknown or assumed, timelines seem staggered and the story really just unfolds in a linear fashion. This is nothing like the sublimity of Christopher Nolan's Memento. So, that's the primary selling point out of the way, what else is there? Well, unfortunately, very little. The film plays like an episode of 24, or Lost or Prison Break. It has that same feel, only you know you aren't in it for the long run and you don't really care, so tension is never built (except the car chase, which was pretty good.) And when characters are in an unfortunate situation, you don't really care. In fact I wanted it to end like The Departed, with Forest Whitaker in shoe covers instead of Marky Mark. Whilst I'm talking about characters I should really mention that this film has none. The film was so much about this vantage point concept that all (and I mean all) characters are flat, uninteresting and lacking in context, and their personalities are revealed only fleetingly. That, coupled with the simple plot, issues of believablility and cut and paste character traits, make this film one to miss.
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