Jared is a modern treasure hunter who scours the seabed looking for old ship wrecks that could give up valuables. His girlfriend Sam works in an aquarium but also supports him since his "career" hasn't really taken off yet. Jared's friend Bryce and new girlfriend Amanda come from New York to visit and, on a dive, discover pieces of treasure that point to a bigger stash. They also find a small plane, loaded with bricks of cocaine. Although Bryce and Amanda want to consider the possibility of recovering the drugs for sale, Jared and Sam are against it and want to focus on the treasure and identifying the shipwreck before then doing the right thing and informing the authorities.
The good thing about online DVD rental services is you don't have to deal with chavs in blockbuster and don't have to put yourself out to get films. The downside is that occasionally they will kick a film off the very bottom of your list one you may even have just put there to fill out your list. And so it was that the next thing in my queue (United 93) was replaced in my letterbox with Into the Blue a film I'd forgotten I'd even known the name of far less cared to see. But regardless I had to watch it now I had it and so I did. The first thing that strikes you is the beautiful cast and they are all (with the exception of Caan) beautiful people in a beautiful setting living beautiful lives. If anything this is good because it sets the film in a fantasy world where drug-smuggling, pirates and treasure don't seem that out of place.
The plot is solid even if it is nothing special. It is nicely tense and cosmetically very good value for the type of product it is. As a basic (but glossy) matinée adventure, characters aren't really taken beyond the cardboard cutouts we get from the start. The cast can live with this though as it mostly plays to their strengths. Walker is sexy and can cope well with basic emotions and actions and as such he fits the film well. Alba's performance is like most of her career in the way that it very much depends on how great her body is. Luckily her body is great and director Stockwell knows it rarely missing an opportunity to have her in a skimpy bikini. Her performance is pretty vapid but her ass is great. Caan is not pretty so instead he is the "slightly bad boy" one of the cast and he delivers this well enough I suppose, while Scott seems to have been cast because she is sexy without ever threatening Alba and also to act as a plot device to move things forward. Brolin is reasonably good in his role. In fairness, although nobody is that good, they do all suit the film and deliver good-looking performances that match the glossy delivery. Stockwell does work well with the underwater action and the whole film does look great whether it is the underwater action scenes or the camera virtually stripping Alba bare.
Overall then an enjoyably glossy and silly adventure that delivers just what the target audience will expect. The story sets it up well and the action scenes are slick as they come off a good sense of tension built up during the film. It isn't really for grown-ups though and the actors are mostly there for their looks rather than their skills but, if you can meet it on this level then it is actually quite enjoyable and slick nonsense.
The good thing about online DVD rental services is you don't have to deal with chavs in blockbuster and don't have to put yourself out to get films. The downside is that occasionally they will kick a film off the very bottom of your list one you may even have just put there to fill out your list. And so it was that the next thing in my queue (United 93) was replaced in my letterbox with Into the Blue a film I'd forgotten I'd even known the name of far less cared to see. But regardless I had to watch it now I had it and so I did. The first thing that strikes you is the beautiful cast and they are all (with the exception of Caan) beautiful people in a beautiful setting living beautiful lives. If anything this is good because it sets the film in a fantasy world where drug-smuggling, pirates and treasure don't seem that out of place.
The plot is solid even if it is nothing special. It is nicely tense and cosmetically very good value for the type of product it is. As a basic (but glossy) matinée adventure, characters aren't really taken beyond the cardboard cutouts we get from the start. The cast can live with this though as it mostly plays to their strengths. Walker is sexy and can cope well with basic emotions and actions and as such he fits the film well. Alba's performance is like most of her career in the way that it very much depends on how great her body is. Luckily her body is great and director Stockwell knows it rarely missing an opportunity to have her in a skimpy bikini. Her performance is pretty vapid but her ass is great. Caan is not pretty so instead he is the "slightly bad boy" one of the cast and he delivers this well enough I suppose, while Scott seems to have been cast because she is sexy without ever threatening Alba and also to act as a plot device to move things forward. Brolin is reasonably good in his role. In fairness, although nobody is that good, they do all suit the film and deliver good-looking performances that match the glossy delivery. Stockwell does work well with the underwater action and the whole film does look great whether it is the underwater action scenes or the camera virtually stripping Alba bare.
Overall then an enjoyably glossy and silly adventure that delivers just what the target audience will expect. The story sets it up well and the action scenes are slick as they come off a good sense of tension built up during the film. It isn't really for grown-ups though and the actors are mostly there for their looks rather than their skills but, if you can meet it on this level then it is actually quite enjoyable and slick nonsense.