If you're going to produce an expensive action film that involves the ocean, I can't imagine having anyone other then Wolfgang Petersen, of DAS BOOT and The PERFECT STORM fame, as your top choice for director. Also, a nice choice as lead is Kurt Russell. A little older now, but an actor, I've always felt lent a much-needed credibility to the action genre, or at the very least a sense of playfulness.
So with those two "on board" what the hell happened with POSEIDON? Well, it didn't help that in the opening sequence we catch our first glimpse of the ship. It appears as an enormous CGI effect sailing across the screen. A lame CGI effect. It is hard to get in the right frame of mind for a disaster at sea, when the very ship to be caught up in the disaster doesn't look like a ship. It just doesn't look credible.
The characters themselves aren't very believable either. Kurt Russell plays Robert Ramsey, an ex mayor of New York City and it's alluded that he saved some people during a fire. That's it. He's an ex mayor. A lot of development there. Oh, he does have a daughter played by Emmy Rossum, and she does have a boyfriend, played by Mike Vogel, and the Kurt Russell character doesn't really approve of them being together. That's about as much dramatic tension as you're going to get. Although, I should include, Richard Nelson, the character played by Richard Dreyfus. Dreyfus plays a melancholy gay man who has just broken up with his lover and intends to end his life on the voyage. I suppose that should be dramatic too. Mostly, it seemed more comical then anything else. Rounding out the main characters, are a mother and son, a stowaway, and Dylan Johns, played by Josh Lucas, who along with the Ramsey character, become the de facto leaders of the group. As for who Dylan Johns is, and why he is aboard the ship, is beyond me. I don't recall there being any background on him at all. There may have been an aside about him being in the navy or something. Pretty convenient. Clearly he was written in to lead the survivors out. Which is one of the reasons why I have so many problems with these characters. They all seem to be there to serve a function rather then to represent any human dimension. Yes, even in an action film that's sole goal only is to entertain some depth would be nice. Not such a lofty wish, just give the characters some soul. The actors themselves do a decent job. It's just that the script gives them nothing to work with.
As an example of this, right after the Poseidon is capsized, the captain announces to the frightened survivors, that he thinks he knows what's happened. Drum roll, please. He announces that a "rogue wave" probably hit the ship. Seriously. It sounded really dumb. More then a few people in the audience laughed. Those damn rogue waves. It might have helped if he'd said it within a conversation about what might have happened, but he gets up almost immediately, after the capsizing, and makes his rogue wave announcement. Another funny moment is when ex-mayor Ramsey says "there is nothing fair about who lives and dies." Kurt gave it a good shot, but it just sounds really silly.
Bad script.
What does work is many of the action sequences in the latter half of the film. Here is where director Petersen really shines. His DAS BOOT experience really comes to bear and the film picks up considerably when its focused less on the character interactions and more on their harrowing escapes as they struggle to find their way out of the ship. Once the group gets into the narrow passageways, and faces the threat of the rising water, the pace picks up and the action scenes fly. It seems the more the characters keep their mouths shut, and move, the better the film is.
I was seven years old when the POSEIDON ADVENTURE came out and was captivated by it. I still believe it holds its own as an entertaining action adventure film. Gene Hackman, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Roddy McDowall, amongst others, all create some wonderful characters that draw in the audience. The viewer actually cares when disaster strikes and as some of the characters subsequently perish on the journey out of the ship. The script is strong and it gives the actors much to work with.
In POSEIDON, it just isn't there. Who are these people? And, why should we care? The film never answers these questions. Mercifully, there are enough well orchestrated action sequences, minus the silly dialogue, that redeem the film somewhat, but not nearly enough.
I know I will not be the only one to say this, or probably the first, but rent THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE again, and skip this remake, or at the very least wait till the DVD. You'll miss some of the pleasure of seeing the action on the big screen, but there just isn't enough in POSEIDON to justify a trip to the theater.
So with those two "on board" what the hell happened with POSEIDON? Well, it didn't help that in the opening sequence we catch our first glimpse of the ship. It appears as an enormous CGI effect sailing across the screen. A lame CGI effect. It is hard to get in the right frame of mind for a disaster at sea, when the very ship to be caught up in the disaster doesn't look like a ship. It just doesn't look credible.
The characters themselves aren't very believable either. Kurt Russell plays Robert Ramsey, an ex mayor of New York City and it's alluded that he saved some people during a fire. That's it. He's an ex mayor. A lot of development there. Oh, he does have a daughter played by Emmy Rossum, and she does have a boyfriend, played by Mike Vogel, and the Kurt Russell character doesn't really approve of them being together. That's about as much dramatic tension as you're going to get. Although, I should include, Richard Nelson, the character played by Richard Dreyfus. Dreyfus plays a melancholy gay man who has just broken up with his lover and intends to end his life on the voyage. I suppose that should be dramatic too. Mostly, it seemed more comical then anything else. Rounding out the main characters, are a mother and son, a stowaway, and Dylan Johns, played by Josh Lucas, who along with the Ramsey character, become the de facto leaders of the group. As for who Dylan Johns is, and why he is aboard the ship, is beyond me. I don't recall there being any background on him at all. There may have been an aside about him being in the navy or something. Pretty convenient. Clearly he was written in to lead the survivors out. Which is one of the reasons why I have so many problems with these characters. They all seem to be there to serve a function rather then to represent any human dimension. Yes, even in an action film that's sole goal only is to entertain some depth would be nice. Not such a lofty wish, just give the characters some soul. The actors themselves do a decent job. It's just that the script gives them nothing to work with.
As an example of this, right after the Poseidon is capsized, the captain announces to the frightened survivors, that he thinks he knows what's happened. Drum roll, please. He announces that a "rogue wave" probably hit the ship. Seriously. It sounded really dumb. More then a few people in the audience laughed. Those damn rogue waves. It might have helped if he'd said it within a conversation about what might have happened, but he gets up almost immediately, after the capsizing, and makes his rogue wave announcement. Another funny moment is when ex-mayor Ramsey says "there is nothing fair about who lives and dies." Kurt gave it a good shot, but it just sounds really silly.
Bad script.
What does work is many of the action sequences in the latter half of the film. Here is where director Petersen really shines. His DAS BOOT experience really comes to bear and the film picks up considerably when its focused less on the character interactions and more on their harrowing escapes as they struggle to find their way out of the ship. Once the group gets into the narrow passageways, and faces the threat of the rising water, the pace picks up and the action scenes fly. It seems the more the characters keep their mouths shut, and move, the better the film is.
I was seven years old when the POSEIDON ADVENTURE came out and was captivated by it. I still believe it holds its own as an entertaining action adventure film. Gene Hackman, Red Buttons, Shelley Winters, and Roddy McDowall, amongst others, all create some wonderful characters that draw in the audience. The viewer actually cares when disaster strikes and as some of the characters subsequently perish on the journey out of the ship. The script is strong and it gives the actors much to work with.
In POSEIDON, it just isn't there. Who are these people? And, why should we care? The film never answers these questions. Mercifully, there are enough well orchestrated action sequences, minus the silly dialogue, that redeem the film somewhat, but not nearly enough.
I know I will not be the only one to say this, or probably the first, but rent THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE again, and skip this remake, or at the very least wait till the DVD. You'll miss some of the pleasure of seeing the action on the big screen, but there just isn't enough in POSEIDON to justify a trip to the theater.