Vantage Point
Considering that one of my biggest guilty pleasures is the antiterrorist show 24, I thought I was going to love Pete Travis’s Vantage Point. Although the film has many similarities to 24 (most noticeably the high intensity of the music score), that guilty feeling I got was not from pleasure, but rather being duped by the trailers into thinking it was going to be a good film.
Right from the start the film dives, headfirst, into the plot, wasting no time with silly conventions like character development. A bold move, considering there is only roughly 20 minutes of actual plot. The remaining hour and ten minutes consists of a storytelling gimmick, where the plot is retold from the multiple “vantage points” of the different characters.
The plot itself, tells the story of a presidential assassination that takes place at a historic peace and terrorism summit in Spain. The various “vantage points” are told from the points of view of a TV news team (lead by Sigourney Weaver), a secret service agent (Dennis Quaid) who has already taken one bullet for this president, an amateur video enthusiast (Forest Whitaker), the President of the United States (William Hurt), and between 2 and 4 different terrorist/assassins (Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, and Eduardo Noriega).
The pacing of the film was amazingly fast, which keeps you on the edge of your seats through most of the film. The fast pacing and editing are essential to the storytelling gimmick; they help to distract you from the logistical and timing errors that exist in the plot. Such as Forest Whitaker’s character keeping up with a fleeing terrorist in a dead sprint, for what has to be over 2 miles, while also keeping a his camera steady to record everything.
Probably the biggest drawback was the lack of character depth. I am baffled as to why Travis decided not to spend any time developing any of these characters fully, considering there are so many characters that span across some great archetypes. Having neglected to do so, I found that I was often sympathizing with the assassins, as they were the only characters which had any emotionally motivating purpose to their actions.
Over all, the film had real potential and by the midway point, I was sure that it was going to live up to the excitement I was feeling at the time. Yet, through a series of unfortunate events, a far too long car chase, and Mathew Fox opening his mouth to recite lines, the film took a dramatic nosedive for the mediocre. I wouldn’t go as far as to say this film is a waste of time to watch, but if you are looking for some 24 style action and plot, stick to watching reruns on television.
Agree or disagree? Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Technorati Tags: Vantage Point, Dennis Quaid, Mathew Fox, Sigourney Weaver, William Hurt, Forest Whitaker, Edgar Ramirez, Saïd Taghmaoui, Ayelet Zurer, Eduardo Noriega, Review, Action, President, 24, Assassination
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