Review of Vantage Point (2008) by Dan N — 16 Oct 2010
Vantage Point is a film that's not without its excitement, and though it's hardly the first film to try the tell-the-same-story-from-multiple-viewpoints approach, this challenging style has been put to better use. The film required active watching, and yet it didn't, because it really was, in the end, a run of the mill action flick with only about 55 minutes of story. Challenging style, sure, but it was not met by challenging substance.
After rehashing the same event five times - repetition with difference, very postmodern! - the film slips into an omniscient narrative style, to fill in the gaps for those of us who are unable to put the story together in our minds... and as soon as it does, things start sliding off the table. The action doesn't let up though, and at 90 minutes (barely), they still managed to not overuse what little story they had. The car chase was long, which is good, but nothing much happened and the shooting jumped around too much, which was bad.
A valid attempt at inventive film-making, but one that falls short of its target, Vantage Point is acceptable popcorn fare. And in passing, if you're curious, I don't think there was a single swear word in it. I like authentic film-making, but I have to say, I didn't miss the foul mouths a bit.
This review of Vantage Point (2008) was written by Dan N on 16 Oct 2010.
Vantage Point has generally received mixed reviews.
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