Thomas Barnes and Kent Taylor are two Secret Service agents assigned to protect President Ashton at a landmark summit on the global war on terror. When President Ashton is shot moments after his arrival in Spain, chaos ensues and disparate lives collide in the hunt for the assassin. In the crowd is Howard Lewis, an American tourist who thinks he’s captured the shooter on his camcorder while videotaping the event for his kids back home. Also there is American TV news producer Rex Brooks, relaying the historic event to millions of TV viewers across the globe. As they and others reveal their stories, the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place - and it will become apparent that shocking motivations lurk just beneath the surface.

A great concept for a movie, but you may feel there are some plot holes.

I see a lot of people get really hyped up to see it after watching the trailer. Yes Vantage Point is a good adventure movie. Unique and imaginative filmography gives the viewer impressive insider views from various vantage points. However the story is a bit predictable and it may get a little annoying with the movie physically stopping and then rewinding back to the exact same time that day several times. (personally I felt like watching “LOST”… was it because of Matthew Fox? :-)) People’s comments are at the very opposite sides, really good VS really bad. In my opinion, really good would be for its attractive concept and plenty of actions. On the other hand, really bad may be because of its lack of ending (some people say how a small girl runs faster than a car and met at the same point at the same time).

The story concept is quite creative and interesting.

In Vantage Point, the President of the United States is assassinated moments after taking the podium to give a speech on antiterrorism in Spain. The event is then replayed numerous times through the eyes of various characters, and each replay gives the audience additional insight as to what has actually happened. It’s not just a matter of determining the chain of events, it’s a matter of figuring out who is involved in the shooting, and to what extent. Slowly we progress to some new footage and then the movie finally gets good. The climax is very good, because it finally does intertwine all six “Vantage Points” into one.

However, the story is predictable and the connection of each process is not perfectly smooth. Also you may feel a bit annoyed about the repeating the same story.

The action scenes were intense.

It has one of the best car chase scenes ever. In terms of camera work and rather confusing and disorienting action sequences, the movie does stay very true to that concept. What is missing, however, is a compelling plot, interesting or even marginal dialogue, and any sense of actual thrill.

The entire cast is outstanding, but particular notice should be given to Quaid.

Dennis Quaid is cool and slick as ever, Matthew Fox is a nice surprise, Forest Whitaker as always is a really good actor. Sigorney Weaver is in the film for about 7 minutes, so couldn’t say anything about her acting :-).

Next year Oscar Nominee?? Well…

It may not be the best movie. Some people say it should be a Nominee of next year Oscar, but personally I don’t quite agree with that. However it does have great actions and impressive story concept. It is definitely worth a watch if you are a fan of action movies!

Accessories

Still photos

Sources:

IMDB
Yahoo Movie
Cinematic Intelligence Agency