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POSEIDON Send This Review to a Friend
It’s a mystery as to why audiences like to watch disaster movies. To take solace in the tragedy happening to someone else? To find hope because some survive? For the perverse pleasure of watching death and destruction? Or is it just for the special effects?
Whatever the motivation, there are those souls who might want to endure “Poseidon,” an outrageously hokey drama at sea. It’s the forerunner “The Poseidon Adventure” all over again, but more plodding and without even the relief of camp. There are, of course, expert special effects galore as a giant wave overturns a cruise ship, with most of the passengers either dead or doomed, and a few fighting their way out against all odds, including those of logic or realism.
In Mark Prostosevich’s screenplay based on the novel by Paul Gallico, there must be a couple of guys with knowledge of how the vessel is structured. If you were ever on a huge ship, you know it is sometimes hard enough to find your way back to your cabin. Here one has to know the hidden passageways, how to operate the engines, how to bust through hatches and how to use water pressure from the flood to help escape, as well as all the physical dexterity required. So much for credibility.
But credibility isn’t the point. Under Wolfgang Petersen’s direction, the only point is watching characters struggle to survive while gazing at the effects modern technology can achieve. Some survive, some don’t. Seeing the unfortunate succumb evidently is meant to be part of the fun. The gallant, and I hope well paid cast, includes Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, Richard Dreyfuss, Jacinda Barrett, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro, Jimmy Bennett and Andre Braugher. A Warner Brothers Pictures release.
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