Clever manipulation makes a generic scenario seem fresh

Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2007)

A serviceable action thriller, given your typical Tony Scott quick cuts and typical Denzel Washington protagonist, still manages to rise slightly over it's tired mechanics with the inclusion of a well integrated science fiction element. For the first half hour of Deja Vu, viewers may be shaking their heads in disappointment, fearing that they are watching the same old mainstream cop mystery they have seen a thousand times over. Scott's typical direction does not help freshen things up either. What was once entirely stylish, edgy film-making has become completely predictable with grainy coloring, frenzied editing, and generic scoring somehow making the film feel dated more then it has any right. Viewers are taken through a typical detective procedure, as Washington's tired ATF agent tries desperately to gather clues from a massive explosion that rocked a newly opened New Orleans port. Certainly not a chore, the setup here remains completely average with hardly an effort made to differentiate this film from the many others like it, some starred in and directed by this team themselves.
Thankfully, once the routine plot mechanics are set into play, Deja Vu finally offers up what will separate this popcorn movie from countless imitations. Borrowing from what made guilty pleasures like Strange Days such voyeuristic fun, the neat concept this script introduces, regarding what seems like the ultimate in surveillance security, will help take the generic thriller to fairly unique sequences. Toying with concepts of time travel while centering around this cat-and-mouse game helps Scott get some extra mileage out of the vehicle, and finally gives him a reason to implement all of the hyperactive edits he relishes in so much. Rather then barraging viewers with an onslaught of creative direction (which has been shown to prove contradictory and excessive with previous releases), Scott wisely finds a proper venue to work his magic. It is in these dazzling sequences of omniscient direction, when Washington is monitoring potential subjects with the precision of an infinitely floating camera eye, that any unique perspective and technical accomplishment shines through the otherwise predictable work.
Suffering from a typically bland lead performance from the uninspired Washington, a confusingly underwritten antagonist played by Jim Caviezel, and a denigrating plot twist that makes the far-fetched reality behind this seem even sillier, Deja Vu is still a trip worth taking once (though no need to repeat!) for the brief stride hit in the middle which elevates the stereotypical proceedings with a fresh sheen of techno-paint.