Pete Travis

Vantage Point on DVD. Similar to the Bourne series and “The Kingdom,” this is a very good action movie about a plot to assassinate the President of the United States at an anti-terrorism summit in Spain. Unfortunately, it also reminds me of “Lions for Lambs” in that the more I reflect on the film, the less I like it. Lions’ director Robert Redford let his political agenda overwhelm his success in weaving together three stories taking place simultaneously but in different locations. Here, director Pete Travis avoids political messages and attempts to show how eight people in attendance at the summit have differing perspectives of the assassination attempt and subsequent events. The audience experiences the critical minutes of action from each individual’s viewpoint as the scene is repeated several times and unique cliffhangers leave viewers in suspense. Some of the stories are quite good, such as those of news director Rex (Sigourney Weaver) and President Ashton (William Hurt), but the film overreaches on others. The whole arc with the little girl and her mother seemed unnecessary. The terrorists’ plot was clever at times, but overcomplicated at others and some of the action scenes were not believable. For example, the hero’s ability to repeatedly lose and then relocate the bad guys during the car chase through the city streets and Lewis (Forest Whitaker) keeping pace with trained Secret Service agents as they run several blocks after a suspect. The finale seemed a bit hokey and the subsequent media cover up unrealistic given today’s news environment. However, feel free to make some popcorn and be entertained by this film; just don’t spend too much time afterwards thinking about it.
The bonus features are average, though I did find it curious that the only actor not interviewed was the one playing the terrorist mastermind.

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