POSEIDON (***)
I haven’t seen THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE, which many consider to be a crest in the wave of 1970s disaster movies. So I won’t be able to reference Shelly Winters’s aquatic exploits that have become part of movie lore (wait a sec, I just did). Perhaps that puts me in a better position to evaluate POSEIDON on its own. Just as with FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX (2004), if you haven’t seen the original, this might be a good place to start.
The movie’s story is as clear as its trailer, in which we see the colossal cruise liner get blindsided on New Year’s Eve by an even more colossal rouge wave. As it keels over, its captain (Andre Braugher) calms its survivors to wait for a rescue, while a few others are certain that waiting is a death sentence. These “others” consist of ex-navy Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas), former fireman and mayor Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), the mayor’s daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum), her fiancée Christian (Mike Vogel), architect Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss), stowaway Elena Gonzalez (Mia Maestro), and the mother-son pairing of Jacinda (Maggie James) and Jimmy Barrett (Conor James).
Detailing each character’s subplots and background stories is pointless, since the movie makes little to no use of them during key moments. Some may complain about this; its lack of character development. But the movie doesn’t have so much a plot as it does an escape route, which its protagonists follow (or try to follow) all the way through. As the ship sinks no time can be spared to develop their relationships or reveal emotional depth, when ocean depth is of graver concern.
The movie is a visceral experience, not so much an intellectual one. It moves briskly (99 minutes) and is extremely well-paced. It establishes the risks and what has to be done. There are no inside references, no political undercurrents, no cute moments. The film does have moments of humor, joy, and hope, but none of its protagonists make macho, silly, or pretentious gestures. Those who do are satisfyingly struck down.
Being a summer blockbuster, what would the movie be without its awesome sights? Its tsunamic opening sequence is clearly inspired by TITANIC (as it inspires nearly the same trepidation). Aside from the obvious dangers of inundated rooms and malfunctioning elevator shafts, the film comes up with creative imaginings of others. Such as a pillar of flame within the ship’s atrium and a masterfully claustrophobic sequence involving a flooded air vent.
When this much chaos is simulated within the film, panic comes easy for the cast to play. But Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell provide the film’s center. Providing the sensibility and gravitas we would crave for in the same situation, our attention and admiration never flees them. Both of their characters make the key choices. Dylan (Lucas) makes one that is breathtaking, while Robert (Russell) has one that is heartrending. But upon reflection, their decisions make perfect sense, as they embody decisiveness in the midst of desperation.
If there’s anyone in recent memory who should direct a sea story, it’s Wolfgang Petersen. Director of the best submarine movie ever made (DAS BOOT), he merely crackles his knuckles here (as he did in THE PERFECT STORM). Not only does he thrill us, he fills with dread and remorse. Unlike many recent disaster films that cutaway from death, this one is unafraid to show the unlucky. Not for exploitation, but for realism. Seeing so many bodies is jarring, but hey, there are a lot of people on that boat.
So many inferior action movies step wrong in so many ways. They inject the unnecessary or bring up the topical (even MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 3 can’t help itself near the end). What makes POSEIDON gripping is that it wastes no time, since its people have little of it. It’s a lean thrill machine.
Posted by FLIPCRITIC at May 12, 2006 11:38 PM