Review: Deja Vu Keeps Coming Back To The Same Disappointment
- Jul 15, 2018
- 2 min read
A great gimmick a good movie does not make.
A bomb tears through celebrations aboard a New Orleans ferry, and ATF agent Doug Carlin (Denzel Washington) is at the forefront of the investigation. When a mysterious body, Claire Kuchever (Paula Patton), washes ashore, one that seems out of sorts with what would be expected, a number of strange anomalies begin occurring. As Doug investigates further he uncovers comes to the conclusion that Claire’s death, and the bombing, are linked in someway. Solve one, and you solve the other. When he’s approached by Agent Pryzwarra (Val Kilmer) of the FBI, and offered a place on a new, experimental task-force, Carlin is unprepared for what comes next.
Deja Vu is not the most conventional time travel film around. The first portion of the film revolves around what can be best described as time surveillance, looking back through the past to better aid the investigation in the future. The way in which this functions is interesting to say the least, taking place in real-time, but unable to go backwards or forwards from the point of activation. Throw in a portable version of the device and you’ve got yourself a car chase across time, one participant in the present, the other four days in the past. As the film progresses more elements are introduced, causing the story to take some sudden turns, ones that, unfortunately, aren’t as tightly controlled as the surveillance elements.
Aside from that, there’s nothing particularly special about Deja Vu. Washington’s acting is solid, but nothing special, and the whole thing is more interested in explaining and showing off the time travel elements than it is in creating a compelling story or interesting characters. If the film was half an hour shorter it may have been forgivable , something in the vein of any number of sci-fi films. But at two hours, everything past a certain point begins to drag. It’s unable to step beyond the bounds of the central gimmick, and suffers as a result.
Had it been quicker and more concise, Deja Vu could have been remembered. As it stands, the film is entertaining to a point, and not worth more than one half-hearted viewing.
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