Bleu d'enfer

Paul Walker and Jessica Alba play a struggling young couple living in the Bahamas. Friend Scott Caan shows up with latest girlfriend Ashley Scott, and when the four go diving they find buried treasure. Not only do they find a recent plane crash filled with drugs, but also a long lost pirate ship rumored to contain gold. "Into The Blue" is wonderfully shot, with beautiful scenery of the water and diving, and it's barely dressed actors. The film drifts around for it's first hour or so without too much going on. Most of the movie at first consists of the two couples arguing over what to do with the lost treasure. Caan and Scott, playing the selfish couple want to take the drugs immediately, while the more responsible couple(Walker and Alba) want to go about things the right way by filing a claim. Then the film really picks up at the end leading to a very exciting, and surprisingly violent final half hour.

I was astonished at the dismal rating for this film, which at the time of this writing was 4.8. Into the Blue never demonstrated any pretense of becoming the next academy award winner, and instead faithfully executed its focus -- beautiful ocean scenery, beautiful bodies, and a significant degree of tension and action to carry the plot. I found the characters believable, especially given the target audience of the movie: the dialog was fairly cleverly humorous, but serious when it needed to be; the characters were adequately conceived, including the intentionally unlikeable 4th party woman who "wasn't family." Most of all, I enjoyed the pacing of the movie. Some slow underwater scenes were accompanied by peaceful music belying the increasingly perilous situations the characters found themselves in. Halfway through the movie, the tension never fully dissipates, as each event flows into the next as the stakes rise. The badguys are dealt with intelligently, and there are enough twists to convincingly carry the instability and danger of the situation.

I went into this movie wanting to enjoy it, and I wasn't disappointed. Though its premise wasn't the most intellectual of premises, I don't feel as if it were dumbed down as much as many action movies do, and instead carried out is plot with due respect given its expectations. I'd recommend this movie as a good post-summer adventure flick!

Which is: popcorn. This PG-13 "kiddie-action" gets a solid 6/10 from me. I did have my expectations low but that has nothing to do with the fact that this movie is as solid and tight as Jessica Alba in bikinis! There were more than just a few moments where there was either a twist I didn't see coming or an intense moment that left me thinking "OK, wasn't this supposed to be a PG-13 movie?" On top of those, the overall - checklist looks green: dialog, characters, tempo, photography, editing... All in all, a cut above the rest in its own genre and a "risk-free" choice to rent. Shame it did only 18 million at the box-office because it's as good as "The Fast and the Furious"!

I'm pretty critical of most pop films, but I thought this was one of the best ones to come out in awhile. The underwater cinematography was amazing - totally worth the matinée price and cheaper than diving- the kind of film you need the bigscreen to enjoy.

Sure I love much more clever crafted films , but for the MTV generation this film had just enough, maybe the fact that I am an ocean person, have a thing for treasure, the romance of lost properties and jessica alba- i was totally enjoying it.

I thought the casting was great- sure Paul really cant act, but he reminded of more than a handful of people I went to highschool with - so I could believe it- his obnxious pompous buddy was classic and some of the underlying subplots of human greed are so universal that I actually felt something for these morons.

The real star is the ocean here and the good guy/ bad guy looked like my step brother and fit the bill. Anyhow i doubt this film will do very little justice on a small screen, but overall the script was solid and the sea animal work was mind blowing.

Maybe I was just in the mood - but i enjoyed it and watching alba swim, god she is gorgeous. Didn't change my life, but I was entertained to the end.

Four young divers come across a legendary shipwreck that is rumoured to contain millions in gold, but nearby to their lucky find is another more sinister mystery. As rival treasure hunters begin to suspect their discovery, their friendships and loyalties are tested; and they must make haste before they become the hunted along with the treasure.

The story is solid enough, and in truth it was well above my expectations, captivating my interest very early on and remaining suspenseful and intriguing enough throughout the picture. The cast are all good enough, although they were probably chosen as much for their looks as their acting abilities, but who can deny that Jessica Alba and Ashley Scott did add a sexy feel for the male audience, and i guess Paul Walker and Scott Caan did the same for the ladies.

What really made the film for me was the truly fantastic scenery and the underwater camera work; it was flawless and stunningly beautiful in a way that is rarely captured on film, three cheers for the direction and the film crew for that.

7/10