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Have You Seen This Before?

"Deja Vu" (2006)
Directed by: Tony Scott (Top Gun, The Fan, Man on Fire)
Starring: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Jim Caviezel
Running time: 128 minutes
Rut's Rating: 3.5/5

The title almost tells you to pay attention. "Deja Vu" isn't your typical shoot-em-up, blow-it-out popcorn flick. Sure, there IS a nice amount of that, but its the reasoning behind all of it that makes you pay attention, and it was this aspect of the film that I really loved.
Denzel Washington is Doug Carlin, an ATF agent who tries to uncover the mystery behind a horrific act of terrorism; a ferry carrying over 500 people, including sailors, crewmen and their families, explodes in New Orleans. Sometime later, Carlin is shown the body of a young woman who looks to have died in the massacre, but she was found an hour BEFORE the explosion. How can this be? Carlin tries to put all the pieces of the puzzle together, but something just doesn't add up. Meanwhile, he is joined on the case by FBI Agent Pryzwarra, played by Val Kilmer. Carlin's skills impress him, so he invites him to join Pryzwarra's special surveillance team.
At this point, "Deja Vu" sort of transforms from a crime drama into a sci-fi action film. The team's method of criminal surveillance is mesmerizing; a special program in which they're able to view events that have already happened. Think of your local convenience store's surveillance camera, only with the ability to view everything in a room at any angle you can dream of. But there's a catch; once something has happened, you can't go back and view it again, so there is no rewinding. The possibility of having such a program exist is interesting to think about. With this method, the team tries to track down the young woman, only in a time warp period of days ago, when she was alive. They link the woman's death to the person who planted the explosives on the ferry, and from this point, it's all about pin-pointing the fine details in how, where, and when it all goes down.
Denzel Washington relishes in this kind of role; mysterious, but yet down to earth. He doesn't try to pretend to understand this weird, futuristic surveillance program. His only concern is trying to prevent what happens, and finding the person responsible for it in the first place. Fans of his are sure to like him in this role, but I have to say that I liked him a bit more in director Tony Scott's other Denzel-starrer, "Man on Fire". Val Kilmer, meanwhile, has fun with his role, even if its pretty much the straight-and-narrow "play by the rules" kind of cop role. But Kilmer rarely disappoints in any role he takes and this is no exception.
Personally, the stars of this film aren't necessarily the actors themselves. Yes, they're a big part of it obviously, but it's the premise that takes centre stage. And anyone who knows me and my love of film probably knows my stance on CGI, but I have to say that the visuals in this movie are incredible. There's one scene in particular where Denzel's character is chasing someone on the freeways and roads of New Orleans that uses a split image, and it comes off really good on-screen.
Director Scott is known for his explosive yet personable films. With this one, he's created a story that simply leaves you thinking, "What if?" What if authorities could develop a technology to go back in time? What if murder could be prevented in this way? It may all seem a little over-the-top for some people, but "Deja Vu" is a film that simply asks for your attention. But don't worry; its not like its something you've seen before.