vantage point

the assassination of the president of the us - potus as he is called here
seems to be a popular choice for the plot of a film these days
in this film it's taken to the extreme with 8 stories rolled into one
each one covering the same brief period of time before and after the event
involved are some big name actors (sigourney weaver, forest whitaker, william hurt)
i can take or leave dennis quaid but the rest meant i was in for the show
potus is in spain for a big summit on international terrorism
but those blasted muslin extremists are also in town to spoil the party
at midday potus is in a town square before a huge crowd to basque in the glory
he is shot, and shortly after a bomb goes off creating pandemonium
the first mini-film is set in a tv network remote studio nearby
and gives a fascinating account of the process of live event coverage
by the end of this one i'm actually thinking this is going to work well
the next few mini-films depict the event from different vantage points
using seemingly innocent crowd members or security force personnel
in each case the director tantalises with a snippet of cross-reference
so that there is connection between action or people seen elsewhere
there's a lovers quarrel in the mix and a mother-child outing
people engage in conversation and a tourist is videoing the event
this all builds very cleverly to reveal more and more of the plot
and interestingly there is an unexpected counter-plot revealed
it's all quite fast-paced, with bright outdoor lighting dominant
technology behind and in front of the camera clearly in use
the groundhog day feeling of constantly revisiting the scene
overcome with the radically different vantage point in each case
but (there has to be one) it all got spoilt as everything peaked
the car chase scene (there has to be one) was just unbelievable
quite literally in this case - up until then i was totally with it
but it went on and on and on and.....and just silly really
there has to be some secret hollywood challenge at work here
see who can come up with the most exciting car chase
how many cars, buses, trucks, cafes, shops can be destroyed
with the hero chaser emerging at the end as the winner (takes all)
i actually decided part way through this to suspend interest in the film
and laugh out loud at the totally unrealistic happenings during the chase
eventually it came to an end and our terminator type hero staggered on
to wrap up the film as the saviour of potus and therefore the world
i felt a bit robbed actually - what started out with promise and interest
ended up being another hollywood block-buster action flick
the goodies emerging triumphant - the baddies now deadies
and u s of a imperialism intact and glorified
get the impression there is more coming
hollywood will milk terrorism for years
still - some good films will come
this one halfway there