Review of Déjà Vu (2006) by Ben L — 29 Dec 2011

Time travel is almost a guarantee that I will enjoy a movie. There's just something about that theme that really intrigues me. Add in a ton of action and a good storyline, and suddenly you have a movie I will love. This movie hits on all those points. It has a good crime drama feel to open but then they delve into this whole "seeing the past" thing and I'm hooked.

Part of what I love about time travel movies is when they really mess with your mind. This movie was extremely mind-bending because you find yourself wondering what has already happened and can anything really be changed. I just love puzzling it out along with the characters. And, as you might expect, Denzel plays the mix of determination and confusion perfectly. You can see in his expressions that he's desperate to figure things out, but frustrated because it all feels a little over his head.

The movie is very dark, though. People who can't handle violent movies will have a hard time with this one. I found that the violence just strengthened my emotional connection with the heroes and increased my desire to see the villain caught. The conclusion is satisfying, although perhaps the most mind-blowing part. That's what I liked most about this movie, I walked away saying "Wow! That was good" and then I spent hours thinking about what really happened. Any movie that intrigues me to the point where I'm thinking about it for hours afterwards, and I find myself anxious to watch it again is a winner.