Overall Rating
  Awesome: 2.97%
Worth A Look: 37.62%
Average: 35.64%
Pretty Bad: 16.83%
Total Crap: 6.93%
10 reviews, 41 user ratings
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| Poseidon |
by Matt Seaver
"“Could you believe it when… wait… what was his name again?”"
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I have to respect a film that knows its direction precisely, whether or not I agree with that direction. It is very apparent that Wolfgang Petersen set out to make a disaster film with awesome set pieces and sequences of destruction, and after that, well, what happens is what happens. His focus was clear, and in that respect, "Poseidon" skillfully accomplishes what it strives for, but doesn’t make an attempt to go far beyond that.On a New Year’s Eve sailing of the mega-luxury liner Poseidon, a party is in full swing with the guests in various states of celebration. Former NYC mayor Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) and “Lucky” Larry (Kevin Dillon) are in a snippy game of high-stakes poker; Robert’s daughter Jennifer (Emmy Rossum) is celebrating her engagement with her new fiancé, Christian (Mike Vogel); Maggie James (Jacinda Barrett) and her son Conor are enjoying the benefits of the captain’s table. Less jovial, Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) is contemplating suicide after being stood up by his partner, and stowaway Elena (Mía Maestro) is getting antsy in the crew quarters of the chef who let her on the ship. All these moods change when a ‘rogue wave’ strikes and capsizes the massive ship sending everyone into a frenzy. All the above decide they’re not ready to stay in the ballroom and wait for death, so they begin the difficult and dangerous climb up to the bottom of the ship in hopes of being rescued.
And that’s just about as much as you’ll ever learn about the characters in Poseidon. There are no surprises, no revelations or advancements of character. After the first twenty minutes, it is simply a race against time with a couple of different character types, and the audience placing bets about who will survive and who will not.
This seems pretty callous, I know, but I doubt anyone who has seen the previews will be going to see the film for any reason other than the spectacle or adventure aspects. And those are the parts of the film worth watching. This is what Wolfgang Petersen excels at – massive visual spectacles that are pure escapism, like The Perfect Storm and Troy, and he feels no need to delve deeply into why things are actually happening. Indeed, the most explanation for why the disaster occurred was, “We were hit by a rogue wave. They’re random and impossible to predict.” But the lack of explanation doesn’t make the film any less fun to watch. Shutting the analytical part of your brain off, though unadvisable for long periods of time, will certainly allow you to get pulled in and thrive purely on the visceral excitement provided by a huge flaming waterfall or any of the other life-threatening situations the group finds itself in – though you probably won’t feel the anxiety as though you were there with them.
With such bare-bones and sketched characters, it becomes difficult to gauge an actor’s performance, but each person delivers the required emotions at the right moments. The intensity button is flipped to “Insane,” and the actors do what they can to keep up, at times going over-the-top, but honestly, what can you do? They’re not given many opportunities to distinguish themselves to the audience, so they must take the chances they find. Russell and Lucas fare decently as the clear leaders of the group, with Russell coming out completely unscathed, mostly because he’s done this stuff before. Lucas proves himself competent, but maybe not the best choice, something probably reflected in the eventual box office take of the film.Which is a shame, really. It’s not the best thing out right now, not by a long shot, but Poseidon certainly doesn’t deserve to sink (sorry… couldn’t help it…) as it looks like it’s going to. There have been far worse films that have done far better…coming out between "Mission: Impossible III" and "The Da Vinci Code" couldn’t have helped. If you’re looking for a fun little distraction that need not trouble you after you leave the theater, Poseidon may be a good way to go. Just don’t expect to be wowed by anything other than the effects.
 del.icio.us 
link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=14526&reviewer=412
originally posted: 05/18/06 05:43:17
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USA
12-May-2006 (PG-13)
DVD: 22-Aug-2006
UK
02-Jun-2006
Australia
01-Jun-2006
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