Great Camera Work And Other Technical Aspects example essay topic

Just imagine it, 14,000 people in an arena trying to have a good time at a boxing match, and a major political figure is shot. Everyone is a suspect. Sounds intriguing, but yet Brian De Palma's new thriller does have its flaws. While the technical aspects and acting are state-of-the-art, Snake Eyes has some minor defects in the plot which hurt the film's overall value. Set in Atlantic City, Rick Santoro (Nicolas Cage) is a flamboyant and corrupt police detective who has been known for taking bribes and also cheats on his wife.

Kevin Dunne (Gary Sinise) is a Navy Commander who is on the Department of Defense staff and happens to be an old friend of Rick's. These two guys meet at a heavyweight boxing match where Dunne is going to provide protection for Charles Kirkland (Joel Fabian i), the U.S. Secretary of Defense, who is also attending the match. When Dunne goes off to investigate a mysterious woman, the Secretary is assassinated right next to Santoro. Santoro immediately seals the arena and takes steps to save his friend's career. Santoro must begin an investigation of the arena's 14,000 fans who are all witnesses and possible suspects.

His investigation leads him to three key suspects. First, there is Julia Costello (Carla Gu gino), a mysterious woman Cage saw speaking with the Secretary before the assassination. Then there is Lincoln Tyler (Stan Shaw), who seems to have synchronized his fighting with the assassination. Lastly, Santoro wonders about Dunne who coincidentally left the arena at the same time the Secretary was shot. Santoro's investigation leads him to believe there is a conspiracy behind the assassination, and he starts to fear for his own life as well as for the key witnesses. The technical aspects of this film are sensational.

The film's first shot is a wonderful steadicam shot that lasts for about twenty minutes and seems to contain no edits. De Palma uses the steadicam to relentlessly trail Nicolas Cage's character, as the camera circles the garish casino staging the fight, and climaxes with the assassination. This shot effectively introduces a great deal of exposition considering the timing that had to be done. The great camera work and technical work do not end after this first sequence. Other great scenes include an overhead shot which travels above a cross-section of a hotel floor, where we peer into room after room. This looks almost as if it is a maze filled with rats.

De Palma also uses many different camera angles to depict all the different points of view on the same assassination. After all the great camera work and other technical aspects, it is a shame that De Palma did not spend more time on the plot. While the initial premise is quite stimulating, there are a few faults which can take the audience away from the story line. The story is originally designed as a mystery, but De Palma lets the audience down by prematurely letting everyone know the villain's identity. After showing many different viewpoints on the crime, this can be upsetting to mystery fans. The movie then turns into more of a suspense thriller rather then a mystery thriller.

Another flaw lies within the characterization. Santoro is at first a corrupt cop, but yet midway through the film there is a complete turn around in his personality. It seems that almost instantaneously he turns into a hero cop who does good only. In a tense scene with his best friend, we see him turn down a bribe that he would have taken on any other case before this. Why should this matter be different from any other?

Just because the case involved a political figure, should that cause a change of heart? The film also lacks genuine suspense. The audience gets the feeling that there is no real hurry for Santoro to solve the mystery. The acting performances are outstanding. Nicholas Cage provides his usual excellent production. While the plot requires him to change throughout the film, he does a wonderful job of it.

In a scene where he has a gun point at his head, he displays that sense of security and yet tenseness that any cop would show. Gary Sinise also does a superb job of acting. In this film he plays more of an evil character than in recent films. Sinise illustrates his corrupt mind when he is seen beating on his own best friend. He puts on a genuine evil grin, and uses a stingy soft tone of voice which arouses hate in the audience.

Gary Sinise and Nicolas Cage take up most of the screenplay, and none of the supporting roles are significant enough to mention. If I had to rate this film using the scale of four stars, taking into account the fact that I saw it on video, I would have to give it three stars. While the plot was not as great as it could have been, the acting and technical aspects were out of this world. I would definitely want to see this film again just to appreciate the phenomenal camera work.