Review - Vantage Point

[Fat Bob]

Just watched this movie, and must say, was quite impressed. The theme of the movie is that the same events are seen by the viewer from several points of view: initially by the news directors, then by various other people that have bits and bobs to do with the plot. And does it work? As a one off, yes! It doesn't get confusing as other movies that jump around as you see the plot unravel up to a certain point and then go back to a common time point again.

The is set in Spain, at a world leader's summit to which the US President will get all the signatories to the latest anti-terrorism accords. Within seconds of the president stepping on stage, 3 things rock the show: the president is shot, an explosion is heard in the distance and then the podium blows up.

The movie follows the various people involved: the President, the Secret Service agents (Dennis Quaid and Matthew Fox), an american tourist that videos a few things (Forrest Whittaker), a small girl and mother (superfluous to the rest of the plot) and the terrorists themselves. The plot has a couple of twists which work out quite well and overall, though. by chance, the Hollywood ending does spoil it a little.

Overall, much better than what I seen in the reviews, nothing spectacular but has explosions, car chases, plot twists and a interesting view on how to put together the story. (Rotten Tomatoes gives is a 35% positive reviews, which is 4 times higher than the 10,000BC that I didn't enjoy a few weeks ago)