Vantage Point Reviews

Don't Bother!

Absolutely dreadful. I was conned into this by the trailer which made it look original, interesting, clever, and full of imaginative twists. Unfortunately it's a cheap and unintentionally comical parody of the Hollywood blockbuster with all the usual clichés, car chases and happy endings. All the goodies survive car crashes, being shot, blown up, while the baddies get what's coming to them. By the fifth 'vantage point' (the same scene being repeated again and again and again and again from a different points of view) I was ready to shoot myself. But being boring is its best point, other than that, it panders to American patriotism and arrogance with a lazy and ridiculously unbelievable script and laughable symbolism. Forest Whitaker made a mistake agreeing to this. Should have gone straight to TV.

Pretty good

Some people can not watch a film like this, because it involves seeing some footage over and over again. If however you enjoy 'who done it' films and trying to solve things on your own you might enjoy this. There is of course the element of America saves all and hero's survive anything to pursue the bad guys.

It is original in some aspects and anything a bit different is worth a look. Forest Whitaker is always good. He is a font of emotion.

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[Highly rated reviewer]

CLEVERLY ENTERTAINING MEDIOCRITY

An interesting concept of revisiting the same assassination/terrorist attack from different view points, unravelling the puzzle a bit more each time the clock gets turned back to 12noon, gets moderately well executed in this slick thriller.

The problem is that while films like Memento are watchable times after you have seen the whole thing, due to great acting, story lines and sheeer good film making, Vantage Point's only redeeming factor is the gimmick of a groundhog day like narrative. The cast, including Sigourney Weaver, Dennis Quaid Matthew Fox and Forest Whittaker, feel like they are name-dropped props rather than integral to the movie and the story is intriguing enough, but veers to predictability too often- and then there is the climax that has been summed up by someone perfectly:

If you let one little bambina get in your way, then you're not cut out to be a terrorist.

SEE THIS IF YOU LIKED

* MEMENTO

* 24 (SERIES)

* 11:14

fantastic

if you dont mind a story being told over and over by different points of view....then this is for you......stick with it its a great film.......i will buy this one when it is released.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Tedious

Where Akira Kurosawa chose to make 'Rashomon' with a highly stylised narrative to suggest the impossibility of obtaining the truth from contrasting eye witness accounts, 'Vantage Point' uses it purely and simply as a stylistic device. This is essentially a shallow film with no new ideas and an all to predictable plot. One Dimensional characters also mean that a potentially brilliant cast can not save this movie. This is a dull, conventional film perhaps borrowing a little too much from Pete Travis' time directing 'The Bill' episodes.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Defecation on celluloid.

80 minutes of utter stinking putrid swill..

If you want to see all what's wrong with current movies in America watch this.

If perchance you think it was a good film! then I suggest suicide as the only possible answer for what ails thee.

Yes it's really that bad.

turn off

Badly acted, felt like a made for tv film.turned it off after 15 minutes.

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What a Blast!

I really enjoyed this film. Sure, you have to get used to the rewinds but each playthrough adds a distinct new story thread and reveals new directions to the plot. It's almost non-stop action, with a few unexpected twists too. Quaid is the main star, excellent in this role, he reminds of Jack Bauer in 24. There is a superb car chase scene in this film too with the new and old styles of Opel (Vauxhall) Astra in an almost Burnout-style showdown.

So if you like 24 or say, something like Memento then this will interest you because of the few similarities with both. After the first 23 mins, there are lots of little details revealed during the subsequent 'Vantage Points' that will make watching it again quite interesting I think.

Although you could argue the end was unlikely and over-sentimental, it's harsh to put much emphasis on this point. OK so terrorists who've just killed dozens of people may not worry about running over a little girl when so close to their goal, BUT the guy driving had met her earlier, and it may have just been a reaction.

In my opinion the only people who won't like this film are those who watch too many, and are suffering from 'film fatigue' trying to over-analyse everthing, or compare it too directly with other films, most of which I've never seen, just like many critics. This was never going to be a masterpiece of cinema, but as an action movie with a twist, I won't listen to the naysayers: great film!

[Highly rated reviewer]

Vantage Point...what's the point?

Dull boring, smart ass whodunnit style movie. A waste of good actors. What was it all about? Who cares. Totally pointless. Don't waste your rental.

dreadful

oh dear, are hollywood still funding films this bad? i guess so. intriguing for the first 20 mins, then had to see ending just to work out why the director did it this way. still none the wiser . rent this at your peril. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.