Expected more

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

I have to admit right away, that science fiction, which includes time travel, is not one of my favourite genres, simply because I struggle to understand the niceties of the story line, more often than not.Not being a very patient person, and hubbie having watched this film multiple times, I made him keep pausing the action to explain both the current and upcoming scenes to me ... frustrating for him I know, but I also hate surprises!Is Denzel Washington typecast? Probably Does he ever make a bad film? NeverYou could almost believe that he is playing out almost every character he has ever portrayed, in the way in which he approaches real life situations - cool, calm and collected.The plot was well considered and played out without any awkward continuity moments. The special effects and crowd scenes were meticulous and well executed and Val Kilmer played the perfect foil to Denzel's character.If you were not quite as sceptical as myself, you could not have failed to find this a very thought provoking, immersive and intriguing film.

'Deja Vu' is definitely a film that you haven't felt like you've seen before *boom boom* - it's actually as 'original' as any modern Hollywood film is going to be. And by that I mean it's probably quite similar to a few others, but presented differently enough to make it worth a watch. And, if that's not enough of a recommendation, it has Denzel Washington in it. What more could you want? The ever excellent Denzel plays a cop who has to investigate a domestic terrorism incident where someone blows up a boat full of naval servicemen and their families as it draws into port in New Orleans. However, instead of taking witness statements and making public appeals, he chooses to team up with a shadowy government agency who have invented a machine that can 'look into the past.' However, just because they can peek into the past, doesn't mean they can easily identify the killer. Unfortunately, the machine can only look into the past exactly four and a half days ago – and time is constantly moving forward. Even in the past. Confused? Don't worry. Denzel will explain it better than I can.Although, it is one of those films where you do have to pay attention. It's not one where you can check your Instagram account and wander off for a cup of tea. I'm not going to go into how the plot unfolds, as there's more to it than I've mentioned. If you're slightly put off by the sci-fi element, don't be. It works on many levels. Obviously, there's a strong sci-fi feel to it, but nothing too over-the-top and the machine has a 'real' look to it, like it could really exist in our world. However, it's primarily a cop movie where the good guy has to track down the bad guy. So, hopefully it should appeal to more than just fans of the sci-fi genre. And, obviously, you have Denzel. He'll probably never win any Oscars for his performance here, but it is definitely enough to lift the film to even higher heights.Don't expect wall-to-wall action. This is definitely not a 'Transformers' movie. And it's all the better for it. Get ready to follow closely and see what the future holds for the war on terror. Or should that be the past?

First glance of Déjà Vu's DVD cover presents what appears to be another action flick with a bunch of good looking people looking too cool for school. Not that there's anything wrong with that, they can't all be "Agent PW" (Peewee Herman), but with the oversaturation of such action flicks it's easy to let one slip past you. Then I noticed who directed this film: the late, great Tony Scott.Tony Scott committed suicide by jumping off a bridge in 2012. We'll get to that in a minute. First let's go back in time, as this movie does (speaking of which, here's all you need to know about Déjà Vu's plot in 1 sentence: the movie opens with a tragedy in the first 5 minutes, and the remaining 121 minutes take our hero on a wild ride to unravel the truth and possibly... change it?).Tony Scott, younger brother of Ridley Scott ("Alien", "Blade Runner", "Prometheus"), was just as stylish and atmospheric with his films. Although best known for the more mainstream "Top Gun", "Days of Thunder" and "Beverly Hills Cop II", he first turned heads with his phenomenal debut "The Hunger", which was to vampire flicks what Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" was to scifi flicks. It brought a degree of sobriety and realism to a genre dominated by fantasy and cheesy special effects. Or in other words: "sh!t gets real."Here in Déjà Vu, we get the same sober treatment of "time travel" movies. It's not just Marty McFly flooring a suped up Delorean and cruising into the past. Rather, we are presented the somewhat credible idea of being able to observe the past in real-time, similar to the way our telescopes allow us to observe the past of stars unfolding in real-time even though they have burned out billions of years ago. That's about all we get as far as explanations which I think is good. Nobody wants to spend 15 minutes talking about flux capacitors and stuff when people are about to get killed.The action doesn't let up for a single moment. That doesn't mean that there are continuous car chases and shootouts, but what I mean is that there's a thick air of tension that Tony Scott achieves even during quiet moments because there is always a sense of impending peril. Take the opening 5 minutes, for example. Even if you hadn't read the IMDb description (which I always advise people not to!) and even if I hadn't told you that there's a tragedy in the first 5 minutes, you can feel something is going to happen because that's what Tony Scott conveys to us from the 1st frame.A quick word about the acting, even though it should be obvious with Denzel Washington: fantastic. He reprises his signature action role of a loner who's somewhat cynical but not above showing tremendous humanity and compassion in addition to explosive outbursts. He also adds some great comedic moments, although most of the film's comic relief is handled by the excellent Adam Goldberg (remember Chandler's psycho roommate for 3 episodes of "Friends"?) who plays the fast talking, sarcastic, pop-culture-quoting computer nerd "Denny" who throws out zingers referencing everything from "Saturday Night Live" to "Airplane!" Now back to director Tony Scott and his suicide (you thought I had forgotten).The undisputed power of this film is carried by its mystery. I'm not just talking about whodunnit, but more importantly: whydunnit? Powerful themes of fatalism vs. free will, acceptance vs. action, and even a tasteful dose of logic vs. spiritualism are thrown at us around every corner. The result is a thriller where we can't figure out the director's strategy or motive until the very last scene. Some filmmakers are somewhat predictable (you always know Disney will end happy, you always know John Carpenter will end with a few gallons of blood). But here Tony Scott plays with his cards so close to his chest, and not only that but he fakes us out quite a few times, that your fingernails will be deeply imprinted in the armrest of your chair or the flesh of the unlucky person sitting next to you. And isn't that how Tony Scott left this world? An unexplained suicide (although some family members mentioned a secret battle with cancer, the coroner's official report showed no cancer, no serious medical conditions), the only thing that everyone could agree on was that Tony's leap from the bridge was "inexplicable". Who knows, maybe watching this film will give you some insight into the mind of the great director. Perhaps coincidentally, a bridge figures into this movie as a prominent symbol.Who knows, maybe you just wanted to watch a run-of-the-mill action flick with a bunch of good looking people looking too cool for school. But there's so much more here. Déjà Vu will definitely make you do a double-take.

There are plenty of SF movies as implausible as this that I can get around and love, that's not the problem. Nor is the cast, the acting, most of the script, the set decoration and art direction, the very good use of locations, much of the photography, even the sound design and VFX.What sucks is the direction. The editing that chops half the scenes into mayhem. The added mayhem in general. Too many car crashes when a near miss would do. Cars flying through the air when a simply collision would do. Oh my god the rescue scene, with helicopters so low they are about to run into boats, and boats speed through the water apparently to chop up survivors. Don't even get me started on the explosion. So filmy fire laden, unlike anything real and not at all like the very, very, very specific description and diagrams of the explosion shown on screen! Music is also overbearing all the time, ruining most scenes with any emotional content by yelling at the audience THIS IS TOUCHING! THIS SCENE IS ALL FORESHADOWING! Really disappointing, as the story is quite interesting and maybe was even filmed enough someone could edit it into a good movie. But this is a total hack job. Urgh.