Review by John Delia
Not what I expected from the trailer, but the movie Underwater entertains. The cast does a very good job of delivering the excitement, the direction is right on the mark, but the story is somewhat worn-out from movies like Alien, Deepwater Horizon, The Poseidon Adventure, most of the shark attack films, San Andreas and especially The Meg to offer a few. However, that said the film is rated PG-13 and not a lot of the teens have seen the older disaster genre films. If you are into a lot of excitement that will have you gasping for air, then Underwater should do the trick.
Six workers Norah Price (Kristen Stewart), Emily Haversham (Jessica Henwick), Rodrigo Nagenda (Mamoudou Athie), Paul Abel (T.J. Miller), Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel), and Liam Smith (John Gallagher Jr.) are trapped 7 miles under the water when the drilling station they are attending starts to come apart. The crew finds that in order to survive what is happening around them that they must reach a level where the drilling operation may be safe and they can call for help. To get there however will take a lot of determination, stamina, underwater ability, and luck.
Moving slowly across the ocean floor with some of the 6 crewmenbers hurt and something monstrous following them, they soon learn that their chances of getting to their destination is hopeless. Director William Dubank ignores the possibility of déjà vu and dives into the film with a LOT of exciting scenes of survival as the drill station starts to come apart. He continues with intermittent action as the final 6 survivors exit the confines of their underwater workplace and head for what they think is safety one mile away.
Forget all that stuff about one can get the bends from being so deep under water, the surface of the ocean at 7 miles deep is depicted as smooth and easy to navigate, the lack of oxygen to travel at least a mile to the next level of the driller is no problem, the fact that members of the six have suffered severe injury, that one of has the ability to fight an underwater beast with a knife, and other impossibilities or you won’t enjoy a moment of the film. Just adjust your mind as you do to other disaster films like 2012, San Andreas, The Day After Tomorrow, Skyscraper, Armageddon, Earthquake, and the Titanic and you will be just fine when watching the movie Underwater.
As mentioned in the opening paragraph the cast does a good job with the script they have been handed. Each look like they are depicting their characters showing them as having a difficult time as they face one challenge after another. Kristen Stewart’s role is the controlling character in the film and she works her character well showing her knowledge of the electronic equipment and her physical ability to fight off being attacked by the alien looking monster. Her look here, short blonde hair and physically fit, is one of a tough cookie. It’s a more frenzied role than her Bella Swan of the Twilight series and with the scars on her face a bit move damaged then her vampire role.
Underwater has been rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sci-fi action and terror, and brief strong language. The film does have some extreme action scenes, but should not bother most gamers or those that have seen similar films.
FINAL ANALYSIS: An action packed film that should excite the teenage target. (2.5 out of 5 stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Kristen Stewart, T.J. Miller, Jessica Henwick, Vincent Cassel, John Gallagher Jr., Mamoudou Athie, Gunner Wright
Directed by: William Dubank
Genre: Action, Drama, Horror, Sci-fi, Disaster Film
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for sci-fi action and terror, and brief strong language
Running Time: 1 hr. 35 min.
Opening Date: January 10, 2020
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Released in: Theaters