I can predict that for every 5 reviews of Vantage Point, 4 of them will mention Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon, the tale of a violent confrontation as told through various, differing perspectives. The acting in Rashomon was so convincing, each perspective so passionately conveyed that the ambiguity of it all left you unsure which story to believe. Vantage Point, directed by Pete Travis, follows a set of individuals living (or dying) through an attempted Presidential assassination. The news crew, the camera-wielding tourist, the bodyguard...they all get their say. Every time the action begins to build to break-neck speed, the clock rewinds and we're once again observing the next witness become a wailing puppy at the sight of bullets and explosions.
The situation unfolds through many eyes, only none of the viewpoints even border on manipulation of the day's events. Involvement, intrigue? No thanks. The sheer fact that you have to see things as they were about 6 times in a row (not 8 viewpoints, as the poster misleads), is exasperating. The gunshot, the explosion, the crowd noises. Over and over. In fact, I may just watch it again to keep a tally for how many times the crowd erupts into applause.
It's clear as day that this is to Rashomon what Disturbia was to Rear Window; a film that tries to capitalise on a once enticing premise, but fails to grasp what made that premise so effective in the first place. The constant back-and-forth, yet entirely pedestrian pace of Vantage Point shows a lack of commitment to build suspense, a unnecessary exercise in trying to turn a generic action plot into a compelling mystery. The characters are cardboard cut-outs, and certain plot elements are dropped into earlier perspectives for the purpose of being used later, yet at the time they feel totally forced and out of the blue, as if the film is shouting at you to take note.
It's shame that such a great cast is wasted, but they try their best with the material nonetheless. William Hurt, Sigourney Weaver and especially Dennis Quaid all cope reasonably well. My biggest concern is for poor Forrest Whitaker, who is reduced to this only a year after winning the Best Actor Oscar for his performance as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. He probably does get the best vantage point segment in the entire movie, but even then his presence is just underwhelming; when you spot him towards the end of the film you can only wonder "what is he still doing here?"
With the focus of Vantage Point purely on, well, the vantage points themselves, it's amusing to know that the best part of the entire thing (and that's a stretch), is the last 20 minutes, in which the film pussies out by ditching its initial premise and settling for a straight narrative in which a dizzying car chase ensues. It's almost exciting, albeit cheesy, though I suspect by this point most will have lost patience entirely. The intention of Vantage Point was presumably to keep you on the edge of your seat. I slumped.
Oh, and there's a plot twist which I guessed in the opening minutes of the film. It's so bleedin' obvious.
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