Poseidon (2006)

Josh Lucas
Kurt Russell
Richard Dreyfuss
Emmy Rossum
Andre Braugher

Directed by Wolfgang Peterson

Plot: When a rogue wave capsizes a luxury cruise ship in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, a small group of survivors find themselves unlikely allies in a battle for their lives. Preferring to test the odds alone, career gambler Dylan Johns ignores captain's orders to wait below for possible rescue and sets out to find his own way to safety. What begins as a solo mission soon draws others, as Dylan is followed by a desperate father searching for his daughter and her fiancée--a young couple who hours before couldn't summon the courage to tell him they were engaged and now face much graver challenges. Along the way they are joined by a single mother and her wise-beyond-his-years son, an anxious stowaway and a despondent fellow passenger who boarded the ship not sure he wanted to live but now knows he doesn't want to die. Determined to fight their way to the surface, the group sets off through the disorienting maze of twisted steel in the upside-down wreckage. As the unstable vessel rapidly fills with water each must draw on skills and strengths they didn't even know they possessed, fighting against time for their own survival and for each other.

Review: I was first introduced to the Poseidon Adventure by my best friend when I was a kid. Although I had no interest in the film at the time, I came to love that movie. When I heard they were remaking it, I was excited, yet worried. I recognize that they could do something really cool with the digital effects, but could they keep the movie up to par with the classic original?

I wiped my mind clean before watching this film. I tried to pretend the original didn’t exist, so not to compare the two. This came to be harder than I thought, but worked for me. I actually enjoyed this movie. I didn’t think I would, but I did. The cast was great with good performances all around. My biggest issue with the characters, was the lack of development of them. There is no back story to most of them, which somewhat works to keep the movie going, but does effect how you feel about them when they die. The cool thing about the original was that you cared when the characters were struggling and being killed off, in this one I didn’t have that feeling. I thought the action was great and once it starts is almost non-stop. One of the biggest issues with remaking a film like this is the fact that it looses the element of surprise. You already know the story and it lost something to me. When I saw the original I was sent into a state of “Holy Crap!” when the boat flipped. When it occurred in this one, I was concerned on the effects they used to make it happen as opposed to the boat itself.

I know it sounds if I am bashing this film, but that is not the case. I really liked this movie and would watch it again. You just have to step back forget the comparison of the two films and realize this is a new different movie and just enjoy it. About half way through I forgot the original, fell into the new one, and had a great time.


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