Retro Film Review: Déjà Vu (2006)

Few films are as true to their title as Déjà Vu, 2006 science fiction action thriller directed by Tony Scott. Despite having what appears to be an original premise, it will cause many in the audience to feel like they have seen film like this before.

This feeling goes hand in hand with audience’s ability to easily predict what will happen until the end credits. At the beginning, film introduces the audience to the New Orleans setting by depicting a ferry that US Navy servicemen leave have chosen as the perfect location to celebrate Mardi Gras, bringing their families along for the festivities. However, the viewer is well aware that the scenes of smiling children and their joyful parents are merely a prelude to something that will not end well. The forebodings quickly come to fruition when a terrorist bomb blows the ferry apart, killing hundreds of innocent people.

The investigation is entrusted to ATF agent Douglas “Doug” Carlin (Washington), who is particularly intrigued by the body of Claire Kuchever (played by Paula Patton), a young woman who is one of the several hundred victims of the explosion. The autopsy reveals that she was killed before the explosion itself, and it is even more puzzling that she had attempted to contact Carlin. Carlin is then visited by FBI agent Paul Pryzwarra (played by Val Kilmer), who puts him in touch with a group of talented young scientists and engineers working on top secret project for for the federal government. The result of their work is the surveillance device that can record and reproduce every event that occurred in New Orleans four days prior.

It does not take long for Carlin to realize that the device is not some sort of comprehensive security camera system but a something more akin of a time machine. Convinced that Claire is the key to uncovering the perpetrator, he begins to follow the last few days of her life. He soon realizes that the device works both ways, allowing messages to be sent back to the past, and ultimately even allowing Carlin, who actually became romantically attracted about the unfortunate woman, to try to save her life, regardless of potential violations of the laws of physics and the creation of a time paradox.

Once it becomes clear that the main “gimmick” of the film is the same one that has been used for decades in TV shows like Star Trek and The Twilight Zone, the viewer will have no difficulty in predicting how the entire story will end. Just as it is not difficult to predict that the main antagonist will turn out to be, in accordance with Hollywood's canons of “political correctness”, a white, presumably right-wing, “patriot”, rather than a member of the organisations that used to be associated with terrorist atrocities in early 21st Century . The same unwritten Hollywood rules also why the object of the main character's obsession must be a dark-skinned woman, because African American stars like Denzel Washington were, at this point, not supposed to get romantically involved with white women in high budget mainstream films.

However, if someone overlooks the script's limitations, it can be said that Déjà Vu is a quite solid film. The actors have done their job quite well, but the most praise goes to Tony Scott, who almost confirms Quentin Tarantino's heretical claims of being better filmmaker than his more famous brother Ridley. The plot is well-paced, and the action scenes are intentionally delayed until the very end, allowing the viewer to notice several interesting details, including locations of New Orleans recently ravaged by Hurricane Katrina.. However, not even all of Scott's skill will prevent many viewers from thinking of the words “déjà vu” during the end credits. This feeling will be even greater for those who happen to watch Source Code, film made five years later with almost identical premise.

RATING: 5/10 (++)

Blog in Croatian https://draxblog.com
Blog in English https://draxreview.wordpress.com/
InLeo blog https://inleo.io/@drax.leo

Hiveonboard: https://hiveonboard.com?ref=drax
Rising Star game: https://www.risingstargame.com?referrer=drax
1Inch: https://1inch.exchange/#/r/0x83823d8CCB74F828148258BB4457642124b1328e

BTC donations: 1EWxiMiP6iiG9rger3NuUSd6HByaxQWafG
ETH donations: 0xB305F144323b99e6f8b1d66f5D7DE78B498C32A7
BCH donations: qpvxw0jax79lhmvlgcldkzpqanf03r9cjv8y6gtmk9