by Nick Nash

Created on: August 02, 2010

Deja Vu is a thriller with a kind of sci-fi twist starring Denzel Washington, directed by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer. Given these latter two, expect explosions and a slight suspense of reality and accepted these you may well find this quite an enjoyable film.

The plot is far fetched from the off. Denzel Washington is an agent bought in to try and catch the bomber of a ferry in New Orleans (played by Jim Caviezel). Joining a top secret government program that allows a virtual reality look at the past, Denzel is able to try to trace the movements of the bomber ahead of him doing the act to understand why and how he did it. The death of a seemingly innocent woman is what sparks off the series of events and it is from tracing her steps that Denzel begins to uncover what has happened.

Without giving too much away Denzel soon begins to realise that there is more than meets the eye to this new technology and that it's power is far beyond it initially appears. He soon discovers that not only may he find the culprit but may actually be able to prevent it happening at all.

It is here where the suspension of any realism is needed as this film gets about as far fetched as any I have seen in recent years. If you can get beyond this, you will find it an enjoyable film. Denzel Washington is as ever very watchable. He brings the usual aggression needed for a law enforcer but also the emotional power and presence that he brings. You genuinely feel and empathy and an emotional connection between Washington and the innocent woman (played well by Paula Patton) and this connection really helps by adding a romantic subplot to the film... and helps keep your interest in doing so.

Scott and Brukheimer deliver exactly what you would hope and expect from this pair. There are high octane set pieces, huge explosions and well crafted and shot scenes with Scott deploying his usual range of camera trickery both in camera and post production devices. The sections that take place in the past work particularly well with his use of a kind of 21st Century high tech update of the old hazy dream sequence/ flashback.

If you can get beyond the ludicrously far fetched storyline and are willing to sit back and allow the action to flow then you will enjoy this film. Think too much about it and it will end up irritating.

Learn more about this author, Nick Nash.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.