Vantage Point'

Overall Impressions:
So, I saw the poster of this around Xmas time & though, that sounds like a pretty neat idea and I still agree, the 'idea' is pretty neat. Note all you get from the poster is the tagline. I would imagine, it must have been quite a chore to write. At a bare minimum it would require an extremely close insight into your characters & their involvement in the incident. That's a lot of information to process. Could they pull it off I thought? I mean it's not entirely original and ground-breaking stuff, but this sort of narrative has generally been interesting, so it holds up as a gimmick -- quite refreshing. This as I said, was December.

Then in February, I saw the trailer for it when I went to watch Rambo in Woking (the 1st film I've paid full price in about 2 years). My expectations immediately dropped. All the buzz words you expect to hear on an episode of 24 were filling the air. President assassination plot, terrorists, bombs, etc, etc. Oh dear I thought. Now I've finally bitten the bullet and seen the film. I'm sort of torn if I'm honest. Just like my thoughts on the poster and then the trailer.

I totally appreciated the 'idea' of the gimmick which has been handled well. Though some people in the cinema seemed to be getting annoyed each time the clock wound back to 11:59, but this didn't bother me. I wanted to see the 8 perspectives and that I did. I was chuffed with the outcome of how it did all tie-in. Pretty damned well-written I though to myself, but there is a flip-side.

It seems they though this idea of approach was enough to sell the film & it isn't, really. People still want a story that sticks. This is why Memento really worked, not only because it was all backwards, but because the story of Leonard Shelby was one you could easily relate to. Here we 8 perspectives, which makes it harder for us to have a central focus of somebody to relate with, but this is no excuse for not explaining the motivations of the plotters once they (the people) are revealed.

The plot did a fair job of explaining all the crossovers between vantage points, but missed out massively on the simpler things. Why did the bad guys want to shoot the president? Later, when betrayals are unveiled, again, the why isn't explained. Above all, it takes huge liberties to get these characters to fit into the climax. So, so unrealistic, it was cringeworthy.

There's also the 24 hangover that I mentioned I felt from the trailer, some of the reveals are so ludicrous, I'm not sure we'd even allow Jack Bauer to get away with it, never mind a character we only got to know for 10 minutes.

All in all, taking it for what it is, as I said earlier I'm torn between recommending as worth seeing due to the interesting application of 'vantage points' or putting you off with OMG what the hell were they thinking? It's like what you might expect from 24 once they're done with fresh ideas in season 9 and even that crammed into 90 minutes, with no Jack.

See it only if the idea of numerous perspectives appeals to you. It'll probably be one you'll then discuss after the show, but for those just looking for an entertainer, you better jog on. There are ample decent thrillers out there that exceed plot & action compared to this.