“Poseidon” (Warner Brothers)
Waterlogged With Weak Characters
Poseidon is a remake of the 1972 camp classic “The Poseidon Adventure.” As cheesy as it was in some places, the old movie still had a certain charm. Who can forget Shelley Winters plunging in and saving the day with her ability to hold her breath. There was also more than a bit of religious symbolism in the role of the preacher played by Gene Hackman. He was a Christ figure if there ever was one. But all of those roles are gone from this new edition and the only thing the two movies have in common is an overturned ship. Director Wolfgang Petersen would have been wise to hold on to a few of the old chestnuts but he has opted to go with a whole new array of characters.
The movie gets off to its big rogue wave in just a few minutes. We have barely had time to meet the new cast of characters when bam the ship is struck and overturned. The rogue wave comes out of nowhere and no one knows it is on the horizon until it is visually in view. Don’t they have instruments that could have warned them Once it hits the ship goes bottom over top and rests with the hull above water and everything else submerged.
Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) is the passenger who comes up with the idea to climb to the hull and try to escape that way. The Captain (Andre Braugher) says help is on the way and they should all stay where they are. But Dylan, Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), his daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum), her boyfriend Christian (Mitch Vogel), single mom Maggie James (Jacinda Barrett), her preteen son Connor (Jimmy Bennett), gay architect Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfus), stowaway Elena Gonzalez (Mia Maestro), and cabin boy Marco Valentin (Freddy Rodriguez) form the caravan headed to the top (bottom).
Along the way there are tight spots that end up with one person at a time meeting his/her fate. The problem is the audience knows so little about any of these people it is hard to get emotionally involved with them. For the movie to work you have to have at least a concern about each person’s safety and that is not to be found here.
The special effects in the film are good. You actually feel the ship has turned upside down. And the actors are okay in their roles. They just haven’t been given any kind of dialogue on which to build a characterization.
The movie is rated PG-13 for profanity and violence.
“Poseidon” had been one of the most anticipated movies of the summer. But what reached the screen was a waterlogged mess of a movie that is all effects and very little characterization. The first movie got a couple of Oscar nominations. You won’t see any going out for this one unless it is in the special effects arena.
When you are going to remake a classic, be it a camp classic or otherwise, you best stick with the formula that made the previous one a winner. Petersen threw out everything but the capsized boat and it causes the movie to sink.
I scored “Poseidon” a glub glub 5 out of 10.
