Strap yourself in and get ready for a thrill ride that will leave you wanting more. “Poseidon” has very little in common with the 1972 original, “The Poseidon Adventure”. Both films have the same basic plot; a huge wave flips a luxury cruise ship upside down and a small group of survivors try to find a way out. I won’t waste time comparing the films because it’s unfair and unnecessary. I will point out one major difference; “Poseidon” does not have an ounce of character development. We need a reason to give a damn about these people as they fight for their lives, and unfortunately “Poseidon” leaves us hanging.
“Poseidon” doesn’t waste any time. The film begins with quick introductions of the people that we will be spending the next 90 minutes or less with. The audience is only given 5 minutes to get to know these people before disaster strikes. A huge “rogue” wave slams into the ocean liner just as the passengers are ringing in the New Year. Once the boat flips over and the dying briefly stops, a small group of survivors gather to begin their perilous journey.
Dylan (Josh Lucas) likes to gamble and we later find out that he used to be in the navy, which explains how he knows his way around the ship, and he is not going to wait to be rescued. Dylan is quickly joined by Robert (Kurt Russell), an ex-fireman and ex-mayor who is looking for his daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum). Also tagging along are Maggie (Jacinda Barrett), her son Connor (Jimmy Bennett) and Richard (Richard Dreyfuss) a gay man who was about to kill himself and changes his mind when he spots the huge wave comming at him. The Captain (Andre Braugher) tells everyone to remain calm and stay where they are but our motley crew decides to make their own way out. The survivors travel up a couple of levels and meet up with Robert's daughter Jennifer, her boyfriend Christian (Mike Vogel), Elena (Mia Maestro) and an obnoxious bone-head named Lucky Larry (Kevin Dillon). From this point you just sit back and watch to see who lives and who dies.
Director Wolfgang Peterson is certainly no slouch and is not a stranger to making water related films. "Das Boot" and "The Perfect Storm" are both much better than "Poseidon". Why? you ask, because in those movies Peterson allowed us a chance to connect with the characters before the chaos begins. You cared about those men in that submarine in "Das Boot", you cared about those fisherman on that doomed boat in "The Perfect Storm". In "Poseidon" Peterson intentionally neglected to develop the charaters and opted to literally rock the boat right away. This strategy may be appreciated by the impatient MTV generation, but the movie suffers from being all effects and no soul.
Since we can't invest in "Poseidon" on an emotional level we can at least sit back and enjoy the action right? well yes and no. The best sequence in the movie happens right at the beginning when the wave smashes into the boat. Most if not all of the shots in this sequence contain CGI, which don't look all that hot. If possible this movie should be viewed on a Imax screen. The rest of the movie has the survivors dealing with the usual hazards of water, fire, falling objects and dangling wires just waiting to catch somebody off guard. The action after the wave hits is more personal and a lot less epic which makes sense. The problem is that there is absolutely no initial build up to the disaster. The disaster happens immediately and we are left watching people that we don't care about for the next 85 minutes, I should mention that the movie is only 90 minutes long.
"Poseidon" had all the ingredients necessary for an entertaining thrill ride. You have a proven director, competent cast, a big budget and all of the latest special effects. Wolfgang Peterson deviated from the tried and true formula of a disaster movie and "Poseidon" is a disaster because of it. Without character development all you have left is a rollercoaster ride which is fine, but you better make sure that the "ride" itself is good and on that level "Poseidon" is barely entertaining.
Comments & Responses
More Theatrical Reviews
"There is no great romance, no epic special effects, just a lot of terrible dialogue spoken by wooden actors in a film so CGI dependent; I felt like I was watching a video game." ByJulian Roman
Top Stories
3 Comments
