Movie Review: Underwater
What We Liked
What We Didn't Like
The new horror film Underwater is a piece so devoid of entertainment value that you may find yourself yearning for the understated elegance of a film like DeepStar Six (1989) or even the subtlety of similar fare like Leviathan (1989). In the end however, this is little more than a collection of nods to far superior films and an examination of what happens when everyone making a movie seems to have lost interest in doing so before the opening credits have even been completed.
The plot of Underwater follows a group of scientists as they try desperately to get to safety when their underwater laboratory complex (which seems to made mostly of concrete for some inexplicable reason—in fact, it more closely resembles an abandoned high school than it does an underwater research facility) is damaged by an apparent earthquake (though this is less effectively shown than it is simply stated as something that has happened, always a sign of good things to follow in a visual medium like this) all while avoiding a recently awakened subterranean monster.
Director William Eubank, who previously delivered forgettable fare like The Signal (2014) and Love (2011), fails to find anything surprising within himself here and, in fact, seems bored from the onset as the film begins with a similarly disinterested and detached narration from star Kristen Stewart, as Ripley rip-off Norah, waxing philosophically about the perils of the rig and persistently pondering the nature of existence or some such dribble before all hell breaks loose and the aforementioned fight for survival begins.
But, the blame for this hodge-podge of better films and ideas should certainly not fall solely upon the shoulders of either star or director. The screenwriting team of Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad are partly to blame as well as they add nothing to the mix with a bland note-by-note Alien (1979) rip-off that doesn’t even have the courtesy to deliver a satisfactory antagonist after forcing the poor audience to sit through the film’s pondering 95-minute running time.
As Norah, Stewart does her best to serve as the heroine of this cumbersome film, but there’s very little she can do with what she’s given in terms of both story and direction. Similarly, wasted talent like Vincent Cassell and relatively effective comic relief provided by T.J. Miller amount to little more than fodder to move the film slowly along to the gorier aspects of the story, which themselves do little to raise the piece’s intrinsic value or appeal.
Ultimately, Underwater comes across as a wasted opportunity that could possibly have proven itself a respectable thriller or even a decent genre film had it been handled with a more delicate touch and perhaps a bit less plodding through a nonsensical and predictable plot.
Mike Tyrkus
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