Much, much better than the last Washington/Scott movie, Man On Fire.

Rating: 8/10 (10 December 2006)

Even Tony Scott's irritating tendency to over stylize his direction cannot stop Deja Vu from being a great piece of action cinema. The complex and involving story, coupled with great performances from its talented cast (including Denzel Washington, Paula Patton, Val Kilmer, and James Caviezel) ensure that you soon learn to ignore Scott's annoying visual techniques and concentrate on the story being told.
Washington plays Doug Carlin, an ATF agent called in to investigate a terrorist explosion on a New Orleans ferry. Impressed by Carlin's efficiency, FBI Agent Andrew Pryzwarra asks him to join a special team who are utilising a high-tech piece of surveillance equipment to try and solve the crime.
The boffins on the team tell him that their top secret gadget reconstructs the crime scene in 3D via some satellites and a whole load of computer imaging software. Carlin (quite rightly) suspects they are lying to him, and eventually manages to get them to tell him the truth: the machine is able to warp the fabric of space, enabling them to actually see into the past.
Carlin wonders whether it might be possible to use the machine to actually travel into the past in order to prevent the ferry disaster, and also to save the life of a beautiful woman who somehow holds the key to the identity of the terrorist.
Starting with the simply amazing destruction of the ferry (one of the most impressive cinematic explosions I have ever seen), Deja Vu keeps the momentum going right to the exciting climax in which Carlin is sent into the past to confront the maniac responsible for the bombing. Like many time-travel tales, the story throws up the possibility of all manner of paradoxes, and one is advised not to question the science too much, but just sit back and enjoy the ride.