Forgettable

Rating: 5/10 (5 May 2007)

Deja Vu is one of those movies that couldn't have been made even ten years ago. Whether this is good or bad depends on your point of view. This particular film depends entirely on computer graphics and the modern viewer's fascination with video games and pop physics. If you believe the right joystick in the right hands can make virtually anything happen, then you'll love this movie. If you are willing to suspend your disbelief in the miraculous technological gimmickry and just blindly go where the writers' lead, then you may enjoy the fun. Or not.
The story is a convoluted mix of science fiction, criminal justice, terrorism, new age humanism and fluff. I sat through the whole thing and groaned at the end. By this measure, the movie was too long. Even accepting the movie's fantastic premise, something just didn't feel right about the kicker at the end. Maybe I got lost in the myriad explanations of the technical wizardry offered by the head computer geek.
I watched the DVD version. It was a somewhat pleasant and mindless alternative to an evening of reality shows on TV. By this measure, the movie was just long enough. Although sitting the entire evening with my finger on the volume control wasn't all that pleasant. One moment you turn the volume up in order to understand an especially touching bit of muted dialogue. The next moment you punch it down to avoid having your eardrums blasted back to the stone age by an explosive sound effect. I know the modern geniuses do this on purpose, but do they do it to irritate the viewer or to keep him awake?
Oh, well. It's a movie you'll forget the moment the credits roll. I guess I'll give it five stars only because Denzel Washington did his best to make me believe anything's possible.