Vantage Point

Vantage Point, the latest thriller film showing in cinemas nationwide. It stars Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow), Matthew Fox (you might remember him as Jack in Lost), Forest Whitaker (I only know he won an Oscar..) and Sigourney Weaver (Aliens, Alien: Resurrection). This show is rated PG-13 in the States and quoting Wikipedia, "..for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images, and brief strong language." Guess what the Censorship Board gave it. 18PL? 18SG? Nop, just a U - safe for all :P

The entire film is set in Salamanca, Spain, where an anti-terrorism summit is being held. Over a 23-minute period, we see a news achor reporting the events, the arrival of the President the of the United States flank by Secret Service agents via various camera angles, speech by the mayor of Salamanca, a curtain flutters in one of the suppose-to-be-empty hotel room balconies overlooking the podium, the President stepping up to the podium, two shots hitting the President, all hell break loose, an explosion somewhere outside the plaza, more chaos ensue, podium explodes, and news anchor lies dead in front of a camera still providing live feed.

And then ... we relive the 23-minutes again, and again, and again, and again...

Each time from a different character's vantage point; Secret Service Agent Thomas Barnes (Quaid); Enrique, a police officer assigned to guard the mayor (or so he claims); and Howard Lewis (Whitaker), an American tourist who has been busy taping the event on his camcorder and who happens to capture some vital details, to name just a few.

Each time more is revealed and when things seemingly start to get exciting such as when Barnes sees something shocking on a monitor, or when a little girl is about to be hit by an ambulance in the middle of a busy road ..... we are brought back to the start yet again, 11:59:58am to be exact. (LOL, even the cinema-goers were laughing, perhaps out of frustration!)

Just when some viewers' patience starts to wear thin, we are finally rewarded a finale that comes with a bang and a twist (though the ending kinda flashed in my mind after the first 23minutes.) I guess that's about after the 5th or 6th rewinds. Ahh, you can almost hear the sigh of reliefs! LOL

While some might find the film confusing and annoying (like how some people can't appreciate Cloverfield :P), it is actually rather good. Sit through the rewinds and it will not be in vain. Afterall, PATIENCE is a virtue ;)

My Rating:

P/S: Here's the trailer for those who would like to get a feel before buying that movie ticket