Underwater
3/4
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, John Gallagher Jr., T.J. Miller
Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action and Terror, and Brief Strong Language
You have to at least admire the guts of a director who doesn't bother with a set-up. After a brief monologue by Norah (Stewart), the film's protagonist, everything goes straight to hell.
Norah works on an energy facility located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, six and a half miles below the surface, and something has gone terribly wrong. The building has sprung a leak and collapsed into itself. Now Norah and a few of the remaining survivors have to find a way to make it to the surface in one piece, and time is quickly running out. And just when things look like they can't get any worse, they get much worse.
"Underwater" seems like a summer disaster movie in the vein of "Deepwater Horizon," but actually it's closest cousin is "The Descent." The film is only about the fight for survival, with horror elements grafted on (rather elegantly, I might add). It's not as terrifying as the 2006 classic, but it's still a respectable effort. The tension remains consistently high and there are a number of decent shocks.
Like most horror movies, this is not an actor's show. There isn't any time. All that is required of them is to have screen presence and to get us to care that they make it to the end credits in one piece. Admittedly, this is a difficult task without any introductory scenes, but they get the job done. Kristen Stewart is reliable, tough and steady. Vincent Cassel tones down his penchant for weirdness and effectively plays it straight. Jessica Henwick whines a few too many times and T.J. Miller has a few too many wisecracks, but they're not bad.
This movie should be R rated. Not because it deserves to be in its finished form, but there's a limit to the amount of tension a movie can have while still getting a PG-13. This kind of film needs to go full tilt. It can't play safe and it cannot hold back. "The Descent" was awash in blood and gore (after the halfway point, there wasn't a frame that wasn't covered in blood and bone), but more importantly it had a level of psychological brutality and tension that just isn't possible with a teen-friendly rating. Case in point: there is a scene that is robbed of its payoff because the gore has so obviously been edited out. What should be a violent, tragic shock feels neutered.
Still, "Underwater" is relentless, and that's probably the highest compliment I can give it. It never lets up. It's not as exhausting as "The Descent," because it's not as innovative or claustrophobic, but it's still a wild ride.
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, John Gallagher Jr., T.J. Miller
Rated PG-13 for Sci-Fi Action and Terror, and Brief Strong Language
You have to at least admire the guts of a director who doesn't bother with a set-up. After a brief monologue by Norah (Stewart), the film's protagonist, everything goes straight to hell.
Norah works on an energy facility located at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, six and a half miles below the surface, and something has gone terribly wrong. The building has sprung a leak and collapsed into itself. Now Norah and a few of the remaining survivors have to find a way to make it to the surface in one piece, and time is quickly running out. And just when things look like they can't get any worse, they get much worse.
"Underwater" seems like a summer disaster movie in the vein of "Deepwater Horizon," but actually it's closest cousin is "The Descent." The film is only about the fight for survival, with horror elements grafted on (rather elegantly, I might add). It's not as terrifying as the 2006 classic, but it's still a respectable effort. The tension remains consistently high and there are a number of decent shocks.
Like most horror movies, this is not an actor's show. There isn't any time. All that is required of them is to have screen presence and to get us to care that they make it to the end credits in one piece. Admittedly, this is a difficult task without any introductory scenes, but they get the job done. Kristen Stewart is reliable, tough and steady. Vincent Cassel tones down his penchant for weirdness and effectively plays it straight. Jessica Henwick whines a few too many times and T.J. Miller has a few too many wisecracks, but they're not bad.
This movie should be R rated. Not because it deserves to be in its finished form, but there's a limit to the amount of tension a movie can have while still getting a PG-13. This kind of film needs to go full tilt. It can't play safe and it cannot hold back. "The Descent" was awash in blood and gore (after the halfway point, there wasn't a frame that wasn't covered in blood and bone), but more importantly it had a level of psychological brutality and tension that just isn't possible with a teen-friendly rating. Case in point: there is a scene that is robbed of its payoff because the gore has so obviously been edited out. What should be a violent, tragic shock feels neutered.
Still, "Underwater" is relentless, and that's probably the highest compliment I can give it. It never lets up. It's not as exhausting as "The Descent," because it's not as innovative or claustrophobic, but it's still a wild ride.
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