You know this was a surprisingly entertaining film. Okay, so the plot was wafer-thin, and the characters not so defined, and the opening shot of the boat incredibly boring, but ignore all that and instead enjoy the multiple deaths, the explosions, and possibly the world’s worst actor. Well maybe in other roles Andre Braugher isn’t too bad, I don’t know, I haven’t seen him in anything, but in his role as Captain he is totally unbelievable and deserves his fate for his lack of ability to deliver a line.
But back to the fun nonsense, because that is what this film is all about. Wondering who will make it, and who won’t. And more importantly how won’t they. Now the death count of the “core group” isn’t as high as a horror film, because this isn’t horror, it is a disaster movie, but there is still plenty of stunts and death along the way.
You know the plot right? Big ship, starts to sink, small band determined to fight their way out. A task made more difficult because the boat has been turned upside down by the rogue wave that hit them.
Fun, pointless and funny, although I’m not sure if they meant to be, I’d recommend this film for some totally mindless entertainment.
I loved the opening shot…what was there not to like about it? The way the camera played along the ship, giving us an idea of the size of the impending tragedy…the way you saw the guy (you know, the guy, the guy who was in A Beautiful Mind) jogging along the deck. Telling us a) he's the central character, b) he's an ordinary guy, one life amongst hundreds c) he jogs and is therefore determined and gritty and will survive at all costs.
Goddamit, that was a great opening.
It went on too long. Boring I says. And then they echoed the whole circling the ship far too much when we met the characters.
So did you go with Ninesy? What did she think of it?
Three general queries, Fencey:
1) I love the picture at the top of this page. What is it from?
2) Susan Hated Literature…who is Susan?
3) How does Santa Claus get to all those houses in one night?
I did. She enjoyed it, for the crap it was.
The pic is from Mirrormask, which is a film written by Neil Gaiman and directed by Dave McKean. It's sorta like Labyrinth, with loads of great looking scenes.
Susan is a character from the Discworld books. She's related to Death, kinda
Because he is magic. Isn't that obvious?
Oh, I remember that Susan. I must catch up on Pratchett; the Discworld has revolved (or been carried by its huge tortoise) an awful lot since my last visit, many years ago.
I must give Mirrormask a look, if I can find it on DVD; it looks great. Labyrinth was OK but a bit too cutesy, although El Bowza did his best to save it.
Santa's magic? Don't be silly. Magic doesn't really exist.
Mirrormask isn't overly cute, although it does have monkey birds. My review is here
Hmm, I'll have a look at your review now, but I was a bit discouraged by Roger Ebert's lukewarm review. He said it looked fantastic but hadn't much substance beneath the style. Ebert is the only film critic I respect; he tries to enjoy a film for what it is, and see the good points in it. Then again he rubbished Chronicles of Riddick. Bastard.
It is very much more look than plot, but I loved the look, so it was great, imo.