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STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED
Unmissable 5 Stars
Excellent 4 Stars
Good 3 Stars
Poor 2 Stars
Tragic 1 Star

POSTER ART
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FILM DETAILS
Certificate
TBC
Cast
Denzel Washington
Jim Caviezel
Elle Fanning
Val Kilmer
Bruce Greenwood.
Directors
Tony Scott.
Screenwriters
Terry Rossio
Bill Marsilii.
Running Time
TBC minutes

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Déjà Vu
Time-travelling thriller with Denzel.


Plot
After a ferry is bombed, government investigator Doug Carlin (Washington) takes on the case. Then colleague Pryzwarra (Kilmer) reveals a secret time machine that might mean the bombing could be prevented...

Review
Déjà Vu
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Tony Scott’s latest film, a distinct change of direction for the veteran director of Top Gun and Man On Fire, is a downbeat investigation of the paralysing nature of grief. Using a single fixed camera and only one rudimentary set, he patiently records the emotional disintegration of a widowed... Oh hell. Sorry. We can’t keep this up. Tony Scott’s latest film is, appropriately given the title, exactly like every other Tony Scott film: an experience akin to being beaten about the head with a hose while Hans Zimmer (or in this case Harry Gregson-Williams) turns his Minimoog up to 11. Brain-befuddling trash, then, but brain-befuddling trash from a master of the dark craft.
 
Time travel is the excuse for the big bangs this time, with Denzel Washington employing his unassailable screen charm as the government agent investigating the spectacular bombing of a New Orleans ferry. It’s convenient for his investigation that the government boffins have knocked up a device that can peer precisely four-and-a-half days into the past. But is it a time machine that a desperate cop could use to travel back to stop the bombing from ever happening? (The answer to this question is provided early on when someone yells something along the lines of, “You absolutely cannot send someone through the field — it’s just too risky!”)
 
Bill Marsilli and Terry Rossio’s often witty screenplay wrestles briefly with the paradoxes of time-travel before giving in after about half an hour, while Paula Patton is disappointingly bland as the love interest (though she is saddled with the inconvenience of being technically dead for most of the movie).
 
So far then, so stupid. But there is fun to be had. Tony Scott’s crazed camera shoots with the manic energy of a Ritalin-deprived teenager; the opening explosion is surely one of the most enjoyably destructive since Lethal Weapon 3, and he delivers possibly the world’s first split-screen car chase. Washington masterfully disguises the paucity of plot and character with spiky charm, and the support from Adam Goldberg as a string theory-spouting physicist adds energy to what would otherwise be interminable talking-head scenes.


Verdict
Nobody does vapid bollocks as enjoyably as Tony Scott, and while this isn’t as inventive as Man On Fire or as compelling as Crimson Tide, it’s still the right side of dumb.


Reviewed by Adam Smith

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Your Reviews

Average user rating for Déjà Vu
Empire Star Rating

Déjà Vu Review

Tony Scott tries to combine action, science fiction, romance, and explosions into one movie, but the time travel conceit might be too preposterous and the action falls apart under scrutiny. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by the film man at 10:10, 16 February 2012 | Report This Post


Cowbell!!!!!11

I need more cowbell!!!! ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by darkraven28 at 02:31, 27 April 2010 | Report This Post


Cowbell!!!!!11

I need more cowbell!!!! ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by darkraven28 at 02:31, 27 April 2010 | Report This Post


Yeaaaaaah

I thought it was good, although that might be cause i watched it straight after AvP2. Although i do think the film should have gone a different way around the 1hr30 mark.... ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by Perrettyboy at 23:54, 17 May 2008 | Report This Post


This was great

Much more fun than the boring Crimson Tide and more exciting than the hit and miss Man on Fire, this is a great action thriller. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by jamdodge1 at 20:10, 12 November 2007 | Report This Post


Very entertaining...

..but instantly forgettable. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by Jim Bob at 12:14, 28 May 2007 | Report This Post


RE: Mildly entertaining

I liked it , i thought it was good ... More

Posted by big_al at 15:59, 27 January 2007 | Report This Post


Mildly entertaining

Mildly entertaining and Danzel Washington was good, yet this is mindless entertainment with a complete bollocks story that I lost intrest in. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by danmc at 22:31, 09 January 2007 | Report This Post


RE: RE:

Saw it the other night and was totally unimpressed. It's boring, poorly acted (even Denzel ain't great) and Scotts direction is as mind numbingly dumb as always. Skip it bar a single 10 min sequence it has nothing to reccomend it.... ... More

Posted by Daniel Kelly at 00:56, 01 January 2007 | Report This Post


RE: RE:

Good movie yet again Denzel proves his qualities as an actor. The plot seems all over the place and contrived at times but makes for good entertainment if you switch your brain off and just enjoy the fact that we can travel back in time its cool. The split screen car chase was well done I thought and very original I believe its the firt and only one i've seen! Good if you switch your brain off and just enjoy the ride. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by spideyfan666 at 22:24, 31 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE: RE:

Last film I have seen tis year and was probably my favourite. Denzel Washington has to be one of the most reliable actos in movies today. He is very rarely in poor films.   The plotline was good (dodgy science aside) and I was genuinely gripped to the end about whether there would be an upbeat ending (not giving anything away).   Highly, Highly recommended.   4.5/5 ... More

Posted by King_Wah at 23:42, 28 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE:

I only really watched this because there was nothing better on (that i hadn't seen). Pretty average plot and several dull scenes. Kilmer should have been used to better effect and the film only really survives because of Washington's performance. There are worse ways to pass the time though...3/5. ... More

Posted by BobaJango at 15:04, 21 December 2006 | Report This Post


denzel washington is always a compelling presence in films buteven he struggles to make much sense out of deja vuthere is a great set up although it is rather a guilty pleasure watching 500 people getting blown up it sets itself as a hi tech thriller ala eneny of the state then veers offinto a bizarre tangent turning into minority report or time cop. this schizophrenic quality was rather jarring in man on fire and so it is here. you need ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by quizkid at 11:58, 20 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE: RE:

]Denzel will insist in putting himself in the most uncomprehensible rubbish. Surely this didn't even look good on paper? ]Having said that, I did manage to sit all the way through it, which I didn't manage with Out Of Time or Man On Fire. The first 45 minutes were very promising. Then calamity. ]Oh well... ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by felix sore foot at 22:25, 18 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE: RE:

Personally I thought this was one of the best movies I've seen this year (Coming in only behind The Departed, Superman Returns, Jarhead and Casino Royale). If you allow yourself to switch off from the practicalities of time travel (as Washington's character does - He doesn't want to know how or why it works just that it does!) and sit back and enjoy the ride it's a very good film, it might not be clever or plausible (but then neither is Back to the Future, yet the whole world loves that!) but ... More

Posted by Marvel_79 at 09:55, 18 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE:

Thought this was great personally, one of the more satisfying films I've seen recently. Tony Scott's reeled it in considerably (thank god!) so those of you expecting that epileptic fit inducing "style" of his that almost ruined Man on Fire or obliterated your retina's with Domino can rest easy, he's very much back in Enemy of the State mode with regards to direction. It's well performed (let's face it, Washington could infuse a George Lucas script with believabilit... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by paulyboy at 00:13, 17 December 2006 | Report This Post


I thought this movie, while the acting and the script were a little on the weak side, was fantastic. Simply because of the issues it raised about reality and time travel! I thought it was brilliant! Sorry I could go on for ages about this sort of stuff as I'm doin a degree on some of this stuff. P.S Denzil Washington cannot do interrigation scenes! ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by sparky14bcfc at 16:20, 16 December 2006 | Report This Post


I thought this movie, while the acting and the script were a little on the weak side, was fantastic. Simply because of the issues it raised about reality and time travel! I thought it was brilliant! Sorry I could go on for ages about this sort of stuff as I'm doin a degree on some of this stuff. P.S Denzil Washington cannot do interrigation scenes! ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by sparky14bcfc at 16:19, 16 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE: RE:

I have to say whilst not being the greatest film ever made, i didnt actually dislike it. I thought there were many good ideas in this film, although i must admit i felt the ending was a bit of a cop out. I think empires 3 stars is justified in that it is certainly a film i worth a watch, but probably not ever again after that. ... More

Posted by Tyler_Durdan at 10:51, 16 December 2006 | Report This Post


RE:

I thought it was kind of OK but I came away from seeing it feeling distinctly unimpressed. The whole time travelling business took FAR too long to come around, I thought it tried to rip off a bunch of far superior films to not much effect (The Terminator, Back To The Future, Seven, hell even Timecop did this kind of stuff better I thought).    Not a totally terrible film, but with the acting talent involved (Washington, Kilmer and Caviezel) I was kind of hoping for more than this... More

Posted by Indio at 22:31, 15 December 2006 | Report This Post


Dull,boring and complete bollocks. The plot just makes no sense whatsoever .Some running-time flab could have been thinned by not bothering with any “folding back space” exegesis, and it wouldve deserved Empires 3 staer. ... More

Empire User Rating

Posted by moviemaniac2 at 20:36, 15 December 2006 | Report This Post



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