Don't Rock the Boat, Baby
This contains very minor spoilers for those who have no idea what Poseidon is about. Otherwise you're safe.
After we left the aquarium we noticed that the theatre next door was playing the other movie about a sinking ship that's on in Japan now. As it was in IMAX and in a mere half hour, we decided to enjoy watching 40-foot high CG victims.
Due to a typical clusterfuck I bought tickets to the regular-sized screen, so we had to make do with the doomed being only 20-feet tall.
Poseidon is one of those drowning-by-numbers actioners that is a lot of fun if one sets the expect-o-meter to "Low" and just lets the spectacle wash over you. And wash it does, for the effects are top-notch and the danger comes thick and fast. I genuinely enjoyed myself because I just went with the flow.
Josh Lucas, who has obviously graduated from the "Bruce Willis School of Smirking", inanely grins his way through as the action man. The script tries to give almost everyone some emotional baggage, but just forget that the talking heads ever mentioned it. Why does the scriptwriter seem to think that an overturned ocean liner resembles a therapists couch?
Actually the weak point is the script. It contains some real howlers, especially from the captain who, with all the gravitas he can muster utters nonsense like, "Ladies & Gentlemen, we are not exactly sure what has happened. But we think that the ship has been struck by what is called a rogue wave. They are rare, they are unpredictable, and they are lethal."
Yes Ladies & Gentlemen, you are watching, "WHEN WAVES ATTACK!"
Also his opening speech about how man first left the water millenia ago just started me a chuckling. For some reason I was picturing Mr. Burns speech about man's eternal desire to extinguish the sun.
posted by winstoninabox @ 10:30 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Will you do an FF about it, or does it come under the classification 'There's no point trying to imagine a better version of this'?
You've hit the nail on the head, Dave. FFs are usually concerned with plot construction, and Poseidon is just a variation of the haunted house. You've got to be trying to do it badly, but likewise you've got to be trying to do it well. Espeically when there is no human interaction with an "enemy". For interactions in this type of film you can at best have a self-serving "traitor".
And so the characters have to be full of possibilites, rather than mice running through a maze. This is achieved partly through the script, and partly through letting the actors breath life into the characters. Poseidon's scriptwriter believes that "full of possibilities" means "has emotional baggage", but this doesn't have to be so. I wish that some scenes had been able to speak for themselves, letting the actors ACT, rather than having to talk about, or worse, explain everything. I'd cut the script size by 20%, and edit some parts of what's left (i.e. anything said by the captain).
Then the predictabilty of the film is, well..., predicatable. We guessed the order of death with 100% accuracy; everyone destined to die has a death mark on their forehead. This is especially funny cause Kurt Russell's character talks about how there's no rhyme or reason why some live and some die. Obviously he's not watching this movie. Roll 'em up on a dice, I say.
This left few surprises, but fortunately some tension still remained, due to its vigorous pacing and Peterson's good eye.
I'd say that the motivation for making this film came from the belief that the effects could be improved over the old one. And the effects certainly are impressive.
yo bro - most reviewers agree with your analysis (i.e. go with the flow and you'll be fine).
Are you planning to watch Japan v. Australia in the World Cup Monday night?
To answer your question, I don't even know how many players there are on a soccer team. That is my level of interest in the World Cup. Or any professional sport for that matter.
Pity - Japan are devestated after Australia's amazing come from behind win (3 goals in final 8 minutes) to take leading position in their pool (but hey, you don't care anyway...)
Finally hooked up digital camera & downloaded photos - so will update blog with Lydia pics v.soon (promise)! Just got a little house move to get through (once we find a new place in Sydney....)
Post a Comment
<< Home