Obviously a terrorism/political movie is going to be very suspenseful. The camera running through the crowd keeps you on the edge of your seat. There are some relationship themes developed in the film, such as the one between Howard, who has left his wife and kids and ends up saving the young girl, and his family. After he saves her, he is moved by the experience to go back home to his estranged family in the US. Another one is Thomas Barnes' dedication to protecting the President, so dedicated that he throws his own body in front of a bullet to save him.
The twist at the end is very predictable (my wife had it solved in the first scene) but as I have said, despite the unbelievability of it all, the ride is still worth the admission. There is a feeble attempt at making a statement about how terrorism will "always be with us." That was an interesting thread running throughout and it would have been nice to see more done with that. As it is, it is only developed as a shadow of a theme.
It was also interesting to see how terrorism is enabled by blackmail and kidnapping. The primary assassin in the movie does his killing because his brother has been kidnapped and the terrorists use him as a puppet to do the sharp-shooting, promising his brother's release once he does the killings. There is also a suicide bomber who we see checking his text message before exploding and it reads: "Make us proud." But these are short scenes that don't make up much of the movie. The majority of the movie is made up of playing the same scene over and over and that is obviously what the director hoped would make the movie a unique success.
My final word on Vantage Point is that it is a great suspense/action ride that lacks believability but makes up for it in creative editing and plot as well as some very humanitarian themes woven throughout. Go see this one.
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Article comments
1 - Pat the Expat
"When I say the plot is original and clever, I am being quite literal. I have never seen a movie that plays the same scene over and over again this way."
rent Kurosawa's Rashoman to see where this "original" idea first played out in a movie
2 - Damien Riley
Hi Pat. I will take your word for it that it isn't 100% original then. I would bet however that most movie going audiences haven't heard of that movie you mention so I think it's safe to say they would find it clever and original. This movie was a lot of fun.