This Disaster Movie About a Sinking Ship Relies Much on Tried-and-tested Formula
“Poseidon” is what “Titanic” already brought to the big screen. With theme and story that definitely sailed these waters before, it’s nothing more than a formulaic sea-travel thriller with a ready-made template to be filled. What makes it considerably float to survive depths of dullness is that it can bring some of its viewers into an almost two-hour contemplation of what some people can do for survival. From initially presenting a grand and spacious cruise ship to a suddenly perilous and claustrophobic death vessel filled with panicking, terrified, and trapped people, “Poseidon” presents how life and death decisions can be made. From here, this remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” of the 1970s considerably becomes a thrill ride for some water-tight action.
A massive ocean liner is struck by a 150-foot killer tidal wave and flips upside down. As the clock ticks, a maverick group of passengers fight their way to the ocean surface by escaping through the bottom of the ship that is now on top of the water. It discusses ironies and metaphors from the narrative that starts off with a splendid cruise and ends with hapless moments of finding escape routes. Passengers’ lives turn upside down together with the ship through a series of chases and escapes.
This popcorn flick’s physical intensity offers some moments of tapping into the audience’s primal fears. Its special effects provide enough not to drown the story. Seeing a number of struggling survivors passing through complicated and labyrinth-like passageways amidst other helpless souls makes it engaging enough for its target audience. However, the film remains thematically bare and misses on providing more elaborate characterizations.
Director Wolfgang Petersen hammers some good tension to the movie. However, he is unable to carefully explore beyond the character stereotypes dominating the story. It’s quite observable that the thinly developed script gets tumbled down by the requirements for large action and suspense pieces. A balance between the screenplay and the thriller requirements could have made it much better. Nevertheless, the action clichés still make enough waves to those merely seeking a suspense ride.
The story doesn’t give any of the significant role enough texture. Kurt Russel promotes something workable enough for the tale. Josh Lucas keeps the action up and going. Richard Dreyfuss appears too detached. Jacinda Barrett’s character as a single mother is very predictable and formulaic, just like most of the others. She and child actor Jimmy Bennett complement their mother-and-son role in a clichéd way. Emmy Rossum doesn’t give much to her role. Emotional tension is lacking between her and Russel. Their father-daughter relationship remains very superficial, much like her relationship with her fiance portrayed by Mike Vogel. Mia Maestro turns out as a hit-and-miss with her “panicky acting.” Black-eyed Peas front girl Stacy Ferguson gives a dash of musical performance for her role as a cruise ship performer.
This rough seas action thriller allows the audience to see how people can possibly behave and react in life-and-death situations. The treatment is very traditional — yielding to a tried-and-tested box office formula. Amidst the cliches, “Poseidon” tries to connect with the audience through visceral emotional curves with its own relatively workable dose of drama, tension, and thrills.
