Black Sea

Three reasons to watch Black Sea:

1) if you are interested in U-Boats this works for you 100%.

2) if you are a Jude Law fan then you will see one of his best performances so far. In fact he played the role as a hungry captain brilliantly and credibly.

It could have been honored even for an Oscar worthy role.

3) it offers entertaining value mixed with drama, adventure and submarine details.

I liked this movie cause it's damn dramatic with a touch of adventure.

The running time is okay and the special effects in the submarine are well done. The director Kevin Macdonald made a good a job with this story based on true events.

It merits a solid 6.5/10 that matches nearly the rating of 6.4 of IMDb.

If you like U-Boat movies don't miss K-19 with Harrison Ford, Killer Hunter with Gerard Butler or Red October with Sean Connery.

All of the classic drama/suspense elements are there; intrigue, plotting, betrayal, redemption, class conflict, heroes, bad guys, the mandatory weasel...and a pretty darned cool submarine.

They really didn't break any new ground but there is certainly room for another, 'Holy crap...we're really deep underwater in a tin can' movie.

Unlike 'The Hunt for Red October', this movie was mostly dark with intermittent moments of hope but little humour...which is OK since as a pure drama, things moved along nicely. Good acting, dialogue and direction gave this film a finished and crafted look and feel.

Jude Law gave a truly gritty performance, which I really doubted he had in him. I expected some of the more typical smart mouthed, foppy behaviour we've come to expect from Jude, but he fit right in with the other rough and tumble members of the crew.

It's well worth seeing on the big screen but you better hurry...tonight I was completely alone in the theatre...which means a lot of people are missing out on some fine entertainment, and it probably won't be around much longer.

Robinson (Jude Law) is laid off from his salvage company, but learns about a German sub deep in the Black Sea that is loaded with gold from WWII. Robinson gets the funding, an old Russian sub and a crew of 12 consisting of Russians and English to go after the gold.

All of the above sounds really good, but here's the thing: the crew members don't like or trust each other and tensions rise. Here is what I didn't understand: most were out of work and readily available to search for the gold. Yet, they acted like this was business as usual and would have liked it if some members were killed off and that would mean more money for them. Did someone say "greed." Robinson did say that all members would receive an equal share and this message was good and understood, by all, for about 20-seconds.

The Russians spoke Russian and Robinson needed translations. Why not let the Russians speak English as we sometimes hear in movies? I mean if the translations were deceptive, then I could understand their speaking Russian, but there were no deceptions. See?

One more thing: they hit something that breaks their drive shaft and they see the German sub and need to get that drive shaft to be able to move. Three go out with limited air supply in their tanks to retrieve the drive shaft and once inside the German sub, they discover the gold. Now here's the thing: a winch materializes out of nowhere to move the gold and the drive shaft. There is no talk of limited air supply and all work together to get the winch to move the gold and the drive shaft in the sea bed mud. Limited air supply indeed !

Then comes the big twist. I truly forgot there would be a twist. Hey, it happens. And it happened because I was so engaged in this tension-filled story, but there it was. Bummer.

The acting and tension all around were so good I felt as though I was on that sub, too, and yes, I was looking over my shoulder every 10-seconds like everyone else in these cramped quarters.

There are some holes in here, but this is still a good sub story. (7/10)

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.

Black Sea is about a group of men who have given everything to their jobs, only to be discarded away. These men then get a submarine to find a U-Boat containing Nazi gold.

Going in to the movie with that description and only having seen one trailer, I had low expectations for this. However, this movie was a lot better that I thought it would be despite the events of the movie being predictable to a certain extent.

The story goes as expected apart from I couple of things which I didn't see coming (which is always nice). The characters were a bit lacking. Apart from a couple, most were under-developed. And my main issue with the most of the characters is that I didn't really care most of them. As for the Scottish accents, it was easy enough to understand, but then again, I live in Scotland. The movie does have a good share of awesome and very entertaining scenes though.

In saying that, I still enjoyed the movie as it has a decent story and conclusion, despite lacking a bit in the character department.

As submarine movies go, Black Sea is probably the best one this year. That it may be the only one certainly helps. Kevin McDonald (The Eagle, The Last King of Scotland) has delivered a Boy's Own adventure under the sea that is part thriller, part drama and could easily have been a Desmond Bagley novel forty years ago. And that's no bad thing.

When submarine pilot Captain Robinson (Jude Law) is made redundant, he seeks solace in the company of a pint and some former colleagues. One of them mentions a missing German U-boat that was lost in the Second World War, laden with gold bullion from Russia, Robinson sets a plan in motion to seize the gold and end their financial woes. With an investor in place, a rusted submarine and a motley crew comprised equally of Brits and Russians, Robinson heads into the depths of the Black Sea for a deep water heist, but a tin can filled with greedy, desperate, jealous men doesn't bode well…

There is nothing remarkable about Black Sea. It lacks the tension of Das Boot, doesn't rewrite history quite as horribly as U571 and doesn't quite hit the (dated) adventure of The Hunt for Red October, but it is an enjoyable romp of angst, betrayal and underhand tactics that fills an evening quite adequately.

Screenwriter Dennis Kelly (Utopia) either doesn't understand the law of physics or has decided to bend them anyway but the screenplay rattles along quite nicely, building the drama, adding the odd explosive scene and even managing one or two very funny quips. He establishes a crew of embittered men on opposing sides without making any of them too much of a caricature. There are a few missing beats and some clunks as logic and reason tumble down the gangway but, for the most part, Black Sea holds the attention and entertains. There is little to surprise but, as long as the viewer isn't too bothered by historical or scientific accuracy, there is nothing to really disappoint.

Jude Law makes for an enjoyable, grizzled hero though he isn't given enough to add depth to his character. The soft flashbacks and memories of his estranged wife and son are intended to add meat to his bones but there isn't enough in them to make us really care and they are more distracting than affecting. We understand and care more about Tobin's (Bobby Schofield) emotional predicament through a brief exchange between captain and junior than the entirety of flashbacks from Robinson.

Black Sea has the feel of a movie dumped on the world because it is too light to feature in the summer blockbusters, too small (of budget) to compete against Hollywood's big studio flicks and doesn't even pretend to have any merit when it comes to awards season. For a low budget British adventure thriller it serves perfectly well on a cold, damp, winter's evening for a certain type of cinemagoer who is already sick of the barrage of Christmas schmaltz and family fare at the multiplex.

If you want entertainment with a smidgen of mystery, a dollop of action and a hint of thrills, Black Sea does the job adequately.

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