On the plus side, I didn’t feel like I’d seen Deja Vu before.

Denzel Washington returns in Deja Vu – starring as ATF agent Doug Carlin, he is assigned to investigate a terrorist attack on a passenger ferry on the New Orleans Harbour. However, as bizarre clues and inexplicable occurences start to stack up, Carlin is recruited to take part in a top secret project with the aim of finding out exactly what happened.

So top secret, in fact, that I’m explaining no more of the story!

Directed by Tony Scott, the man behind such fantastic thrillers as Enemy of the State and Spy Game, Deja Vu could easily be dismissed as an action-packed romp or an excuse to blow some stuff up.

But between the explosions, interrogations and chases is a morality tale. Much like Enemy of the State, director Scott looks at what the effect of potential new technologies might be, not only in terms of how they might be misused but also the effect on those using the technologies, the questions of what is right or wrong that will inevitably be faced, and the ultimate question of how far we should go to try and stop a crime or catch a criminal.

Don’t get me wrong: Deja Vu is still a massive mind-twister. While there is a tale of morality under it, the exterior oozes a storyline which is at once confusing yet also understandable.

Working in its advantage is the perspective Scott chose to take in following Carlin. We see everything through the eyes of Doug Carlin, which gives the impression that the story is folding out in front of us. We feel like we are discovering the things he is discovering on-screen. We feel immersed in this mans plight to get to the bottom of the attacks and do whatever he can to stop them from happening again.

Of course, having a talent like Denzel Washington in the lead role helps a lot. Speaking with Dad after the film, I explained that I couldn’t remember the last time Washington did a film I didn’t enjoy. Just in the last 7 years he’s appeared in Remember the Titans, Training Day, John Q, Antwone Fisher, Out of Time, Man on Fire, The Manchurian Candidate and Inside Man – there isn’t a single bad film amongst them!

The supporting cast here is great too, with Adam Goldberg, as embattled lab technician Denny, stands out especially. Most of all, Deja Vu benefits from director Scott’s experience in the sci-fi and thriller genres – this is a professionally made film that will keep you enthralled from start to finish, again and again and again … (no pun intended).