What is a "blender movie" you ask. A blender movie is a movie mixed with lots of elements borrowed or derived from other known and perhaps not so well known movies. The knowledge of whether or not a movie is an obscure reference depends on the movie goer and his frequency of film viewing. The more movies you've watched, the greater the chances you are to pick up the following references.
I picked Vantage Point as my first blender movie review because it recently reminded me of two other movies I have seen last month: Cloverfield and Untraceable. Though the former was a botch job in my opinion, some of its elements were used effectively in the section featuring the vantage point from Forrest Whitaker. Being a tourist, he uses his HDV camera to capture his vacation to Spain, particularly a visit from the president. When the president appears to have been shot, he soon chases down a man, who we are uncertain is good or bad at this point but is actually a cop for the mayor. Cut away views from the main character's viewpoint back to first person perspective would have probably been a better technique used in Cloverfield.
As for Untraceable, technology is once again so advanced, that well, do I give the entire film away? For both films, technology caters to our needs towards voyeurism. More morbid in Untraceable, Vantage Point awakens a fear that technology can be used for evil as well as for good, though here good seems to have failed.
Then there are bits and pieces of The Italian Job and the French Connection. I call it the Spanish Connection Job. Small cars chasing each other brings me hope in my plans to buy a hatchback in the future. Though never a Nissan fan, Dennis Quaid came out of that chase in superhero fashion. You must watch this, but it may be a little unbelieavable, particularly towards the end. Everything seems to culminate in a traffic accident, bringing most of all the characters featured together as in the movie Crash. All roles appear intertwined to afffect one another.
On a happy note, never before has an action film gripped my attention nor made me cry at the same time. There is some brotherly love as well. If there is a need to call Dennis Quaid a comeback star, this movie is an excellent one to relaunch his career.
SIDE NOTE: New technique used in this film for me is like a LOST'S FLASHBACKS. You won't be disappointed with the twists either.
Happy Blender Movie Hunting :)
