|
Let's get this right out of the way. Deja Vu
isn't anything you haven't seen before (all time travel/ deja vu puns
aside). It's your pretty stock standard time-travel-cop fare. Anyone
who has seen the likes of Time Cop or even Frequency
(who interestingly enough also starred Jim Cavezial) will know pretty
much what's in store. But that still doesn't stop Washington and
director Tony Scott delivering a good dose of popcorn tension.
Everyone
has, at some stage at least, experienced the unsettling mystery of
déjà-vu. That flash of memory when you meet someone new you feel you’ve
known all your life or recognise a place even though you’ve never been
there before (or there is a glitch in the Matrix...). But what if the
feelings were actually warnings sent from the past or clues to the
future?
This is the theory that producer Jerry Bruckheimer (who is currently king of the box office with the Pirates trilogy coming to a close) and director Tony Scott envisage for the latest Denzel Washington cop thriller (is it a sequel to Man on Fire? Who knows, who cares...). Is
it a bad case of déjà-vu that unexpectedly guides ATF agent, Doug
Carlin (Denzel Washington) through an investigation into a shattering
crime? Well, it seems to be the case. Called in to recover evidence
after a bomb sets off a cataclysmic explosion on a New Orleans ferry,
Carlin is about to discover that what most people believe is only in
their heads is actually something far more powerful – and will lead him
on a mind-bending race to save hundreds of innocent people. A
surprisingly good cast are on board including the aforementioned
Cavezial, the always picky Val Kilmer (who has been strangely quiet
since the fantastic Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) and Adam Goldberg - especially considering the rather lacklustre premise. I
must admit, the first half of this flick really sucked me in. The
tension, the story, the intrigue all were moving full steam ahead for
the first fourty odd minutes. There are a few twist and turns, but you
will pretty much pick up where the flick is heading and you'll find
yourself just waiting for the rest of the flick just to play out after
the half way mark. It's not groundbreaking stuff, but fans of the
Time Travel genre will get more than enough out of it, it will keep
your Friday night more than full and it's easily one of the more
watchable Denzel flicks. You may not remember Deja Vu in ten years time...but you may recall it. EXTRAS
Bit
of a disappointing layout of the Extras I must admit. There is the
obligatory Commentary, which is nothing new. However, there is a clever
inclusion of the "Surveillance Window" which allows you to view
on-set and behind-the-scenes moments as they happen. These behind the
scenes pieces are really interesting, however, unless you watch the
movie through in full again - there is no way to access them. And, to be honest, I'm not that in love with the flick to re-watch it again just for the extras. Conclusion:
Movie 65% Extras: 50%
|
