'Vantage Point' shows action from every angle
By Taryn Lentes, Staff Writer
February 29, 2008 | 6 a.m.
“Vantage Point” adds multiple perspectives to the standard suspense/action film, resulting in tremendous excitement, but the film offers only a cursory look at the points of view of the individual characters.
The premise of "Vantage Point" is an interesting one that has so far been used sparingly in the arena of films: the retelling of one set of events from the perspectives of several different characters. The film centers around the shooting of the American president while he is in Spain to sign a historic anti-terrorism pact with a host of other countries.
The shooting and subsequent catastrophes are replayed in about 10-minute segments for several different characters. This offers the audience more information and a slight advancement in time with each perspective before the film’s climax finally begins to unfold in a more generalized way.
“Vantage Point” is a mixture of an exciting action flick and a puzzle that must be solved before any of the events on the screen will make much sense. It seems as though the filmmakers creating “Vantage Point” felt that they were making a smarter movie than they actually were. Consequently, some of the best things the film has going for it are also the things that work against it.
The film opens with a TV news crew led by producer Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver) that attempts to cover the aftermath of the president’s shooting. It’s a shame that Weaver isn’t really given much to do in the film, and although the perspective effectively draws the viewer into the horror of what is happening, the importance of the news crew ends there without accomplishing much.
This is a pattern that the film seems to unfortunately fall into as it progresses, taking seemingly interesting characters and leaving their stories more or less untold. It seems strange that a film that claims to show the points of view of its characters could leave the audience knowing next to nothing about a character, but that is the case for several of the supposedly important characters in the movie.
One example is Enrique (Eduardo Noriega), a Spanish cop who is set up as one of the more intriguing characters. Yet his role never really pans out. He is involved with a girl who turns out to be part of the terrorist cell responsible for the attack. He seems nervous enough beforehand to imply that he knows something is about to happen.
However, after the shooting it becomes clear (through his efforts to warn Secret Service and a long scene in which he chases the “bad guys” while the Secret Service in turn chase him) that he was at the very least not in on the plan in its entirety. The audience will most likely be curious about Enrique’s story and where exactly his loyalties lie, but disappointingly these questions won’t be answered.
The real problem with “Vantage Point” is that it replays events surrounding a certain character, but in reality the film only shows them from that person’s physical viewpoint rather than from a mental perspective.
Why are these terrorists targeting the president? Why are the president’s advisers so ready to call in an attack when they aren’t sure who is behind the shooting? Why is Enrique’s girlfriend involved with the terrorists she seems to fear? The movie could have highlighted the fact that there is always more than one side to the story, but instead it showed one predetermined side of the story from multiple perspectives.
That being said, “Vantage Point” is an exciting and entertaining movie. Dennis Quaid as Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes and Forest Whitaker as American tourist Howard Lewis both give solid performances that help add something of an anchor to the story amid the constantly transitioning perspectives.
“Vantage Point” is an entertaining and enjoyable enough movie despite its reluctance to go deeper than it absolutely has to. It includes some solid performances from a well-respected cast and an exciting if not perfectly developed plot. Fans of the TV series “24” will find plenty to keep them happy here, and there are car chases worthy of “The Bourne Ultimatum” as well. Overall, “Vantage Point” is a movie that could have been great but settled for being good.
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Rating: B
Running Time: 90 minutes
MPAA Rating: Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language
Genre: Action/Suspense/Drama