Poséidon

Although 'Poseidon' was not all that well received, I actually enjoyed it more than the original, highly acclaimed 'The Poseidon Adventure' (of which 'Poseidon' is a remake), which I found too comical and unbelievable despite its good cast.

'Poseidon' is an action adventure survival thriller, with the focus on the survival element. It doesn't spend much time on character introductions and jumps right into the chaos, so we get to know the characters once their quest for survival begins. Excellent visual effects and a fantastic production design help bring this film to life, making it realistic and conceivable. The capsize scene, especially, was incredibly well done.

The film does follow the same pattern as most disaster films of this genre, with stereotypical characters, and it's always easy to spot the dispensable ones. Essentially, this is a slasher movie - just a different kind of slasher. Due to the film's short running time (94 minutes), it is fast-paced and entertaining throughout and doesn't waste a minute of screen time.

The film features a stellar cast, but I don't think I would have cared who the actors were, as the story was interesting enough and well executed. It is a nail-biter with one primary focus: survival. In my humble opinion, the film succeeded in that aspect. I've watched the movie a few times and enjoy it every time. 'Poseidon' is a disaster movie that delivers.

I didn't know what to expect of Poseiden. It wasn't too bad of a movie. I expected, and got, some fine special effects that the original Poseiden Adventure lacked. Come to think of it that guy falling through the skylight in the original is still pretty doggone impressive even if it was the result of old technology. I liked Kurt Russell as the ex mayor.

In his finest performance since "What About Bob?" Richard Dreyfus is convincing as a suicidal guy who seems to prefer inside-the-ship drowning to the traditional jumping off the rail.

Its hard not to compare the old with the new version of this film.

If you are like me and have a short attention span you will appreciate the absence of lengthy, why are we here?, if a tree falls in the forest..what is the meaning of life?,reflective, dialogue that was so much a part of the Posieden Adventure.

This film ranks right up there with The Fugitive for non stop action. But having said that I missed the innocence and quaintness of the Poseiden Adventure. I missed the intensity of Gene Hackman passionately preaching that if they will only believe he will lead them to the sign that reads "Capsize Emergency Exit". I missed Shelly Winters heroic New York City swimming championship sequence. I missed ex cop Ernest Borgnine...and who can ever forget the presence of mind of Captain Leslie Neilson in wishing everyone on the bridge Happy New Year with the wave bearing down on them...also the climbing up the Christmas tree to get to the bottom of things. I even missed Red Buttons vitamin supplements.

All in all Poseiden was good entertainment and I was not disappointed with the movie.

I went in expecting the least, but was pleasantly surprised by a handful of qualities the movie had to offer. Once you get past your formulaic introduction of characters, which honestly felt gratituous by the movie's end, the high-end production played its cards right, showing off some solid CGI in bursts, and relying more on the people to carry the tension. Not to mention Josh Lucas as the lead, laudably so, with Kurt Russell co-piloting the adventure, engaging as usual. Most of the drama was pretty meh to me and my biggest gripe revolves around a certain plot point that chewed up an unnecessary 15min, meanwhile we never get an explanation for why so many explosions occur on the ship throughout the entire movie. Past those, Dreyfuss and Emmy Rossum carry their own, even Freddy Rodriguez and Mike Vogel were good. There's some cheese, some eyerolling, and maybe even some unintentional humor, but if this type of flick is up your alley to begin with, you're bound to enjoy it. I just wish the ending had offered a glimpse of the survivors back home, how their lives turned out. A high 6 from me.

It all starts off so well too. The opening shot of Wolfgang Petersen's Poseidon is beautiful. A single take that begins beneath the surface of the ocean that swings up and out of it as the underside of the ship slices through the waves, before pivoting round the colossal cruise liner and zeroing in on Josh Lucas running on the deck. With the sun setting in the distance and the immense size of the vessel itself contrasted with the deep blue of the water, this is a visually astounding entrance to a movie that is unfortunately very shallow indeed.

A remake of the classic disaster movie The Poseidon Adventure, this tells much the same story with a small group of passengers trying to escape a doomed ocean liner after it capsizes due to a freak wave. Given the beloved status of the original, besting it was going to be tricky from the start so how to do it? Bestow the characters with as much depth and humanity as possible, arrange it so that you don't want any of them to die just as the original film did? No. That isn't the 21st Century Studio Approach to blockbusters at all, the trick is explosions! Lots of explosions! And dangerous stunts that happen in very quick succession with no set up whatsoever.

As a result, things happen very quickly. We've hardly got to know anyone on the ship before the wave strikes and sends their world tumbling upside down in a hail of glass and debris. Trapped beneath the waves, there is no debate on the best means of survival but instead a bull headed rush to escape as soon as possible and before you know it, barely any time has elapsed before we have our luckless nobodies dangling from lift shafts, diving through burning oil slicks or scrambling up air vents rapidly filling with water. This could all be very entertaining if it wasn't so empty and if only they'd eased back on the throttle a little bit, we could have had a much more successful film.

Kurt Russell for instance is wasted. As an ex firefighter and former Mayor of New York with a failed marriage behind him, they could have crafted the image of a troubled man going through a midlife crisis who finds himself tested beyond his limits. Instead, the only hints at any characterisation are him protesting his daughter's cleavage bearing dress to leave no doubt that theirs is a strained relationship. Then there is Richard Dreyfuss (who has finally found a bigger boat), whose character might as well be listed in the credits as "depressed, elderly gay man." Everyone else is just as vacuous and while Josh Lucas is certainly a charismatic focal point, it cannot make up for the two dimensional stereotypes of Kevin Dillon's gambler Lucky Larry or Mike Vogel's performance as Christian, the fiancée of Russell's daughter who manages to put in perhaps the worst attempt at acting you will see in a blockbuster this year.

It does have a few commendable points though. One death scene involving a lift shaft, jagged metal spikes and an explosion is an adrenaline pumping crowd pleaser and the aforementioned scramble through the flooding ventilation shaft is really quite tense, the ensemble cast squeezed together in a claustrophobic nightmare as the water bubbles up around them. Ultimately though, it is not enough to save it. Poseidon may make for a diverting hour and a half but Hollywood needs to learn a valuable lesson about plotting: bigger explosions and insane stunts are nowhere near as impressive if we don't care about the people involved. The original version made an entire generation terrified of getting on a boat with Ernest Borgnine, this is just laughable.

The production value is tremendous. The cast and acting is great. Intense and overwhelming.