Vantage Point
With a novel approach to formatting an action movie, Vantage Point kept the audience at the edge of their seats, while delivering explosive action scenes.

The story follows eight strangers, all with different points of view of a horrific scene. During a summit on the war against terrorism in Spain, the President of the United States of America, President Ashton (William Hurt), is shot multiple times. Following the shooting is not one, but two massive explosions. The first explosion goes off outside the summit, but the second explosion goes off inside, sending politicians, policemen, reporters, supporters and protestors flying every which way.


These events send everyone into a panic, leading to the subsequent events. The audience follows the investigation of Secret Service agent Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid), the struggle to escape of Spanish police officer Enrique (Eduardo Noriega), the quest for bravery of Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), President Ashton's preparations, and the plotting of Suarez (Said Taghmaoui). Their journeys intertwine, involving several other people, all-searching for the truth, relying on one another for the clues as to what happened.

I really enjoyed this movie. It took a very original approach to showing different versions of the same story. While the story is seen from eight different points of view, the movie only goes through the events five times. Each time through, different pieces of the puzzle are unlocked. I must admit that the beginning of each version, the speech of a Spanish Mayor and the shooting of the president, got a little repetitive after about the third time because the stories really don't differentiate from one another until after the shooting. However, the end of each version kept the audience in suspense, excited to discover the truth, so you really didn't mind the repetition.

Vantage Point had some pretty big actors contributing to why this movie was so good. It was nice to see Dennis Quaid (Flight of the Phoenix), in this movie because he hasn't been in a big movie for about four years. The role of Secret Service agent, brave and determined, suits him very well. Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland) has such a presence on screen. He has filled quite a diverse set of roles, each one great, furthering our love of him.

The other supporting characters really added a lot of depth to this movie. Matthew Fox (“Lost”), and Edgar Ramirez (The Bourne Ultimatum), really stood out in their roles. Both actors played roles similar to ones they had done before, but each with little twist. Additional, William Hurt (Into the Wild), Eduardo Noriega, Said Taghmaoui, and Sigourney Weaver (Be Kind, Rewind) were all great. I recommend this movie to anyone who likes an action movie with lots of suspense, and a few surprising twists.

Final Words: Saw it. Loved it. “Mr. President, I got you.”