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When you’re a re-trace of an old-Hollywood
original, you’re never sailing on smooth waters –
regardless of how inconsequential a film you’ve decided to
replicate. Simple as that. Not only is the audience usually not peckish
enough for seconds – and with DVD, the original is still readily
available to them, so it seems redundant to do it again – but
they’ve been scalded so many times with gratuitous seconds, that
they know, by now, that the ‘new one’ is never going to be
as flavoursome as the first. And in the case of Poseidon, not even a high-powered microwave can cook it right through.
Remember this one? A huge Titanic
like boat flips, after hitting a giant tidal wave. Several of the
passengers decide to band together and climb to the top of the boat
– or, in this case, the bottom of the ship - to get to safety. In
this case, they include a former fire fighting Mayor (Kurt Russell),
his daughter (Emmy Rossum) and future son-in-law (Mike Vogel), a gay
old-timer (Richard Dreyfuss), a boastful gambler (Josh Lucas), a single
mother (Jacinda Barrett) and her son (Jimmy Bennett), and a
pain-in-the-ass booze-swigging card-shark (Kevin Dillon). (Note:
Thankfully, this isn’t exactly the same as the original, so there
are some surprises when it comes to who makes it out, and who
doesn’t.)
This isn’t a bad film, it isn’t. In
fact, it’s quite entertaining, it has some marvellous special
effects (the completely CGI boat looks extraordinary), some great
actors in there (good to see Richard Dreyfuss back on screen, and Kurt
Russell is always a pleasure to watch), and it’s hasty pace helps
keep audiences interested.
Thing is, it just isn’t the original. Not
talking about the performances (which, even in the original, were
pretty wooden – so no big beef that they’re again pretty
mediocre turns here too) or the plot, I’m talking mostly about
the lack of detail that they’ve given the characters (who are
they? Where are they going? What’s he to her? what’s her to
him?), the pathetic dialogue (Andre Braugher cops the worst of it.
Thankfully for him, he’s only in the film for the first ten
minutes or so) and the missed opportunities it showcases.
So what gives? I’m thinking that Peterson (The Perfect Storm, Troy) may have decided not to remake Poseidon Adventure, as such, but the Stallone clunker Daylight
(1996) – which focused on a group of strangers who band together
to escape a flooding tunnel – which isn’t something
that’d take much to improve on. If so, he’s succeeded. This
is a much grander scale film than that.
EXTRAS
Poseidon arrives on DVD in – surprisingly enough, since it doesn’t really warrant it – a two-disc special edition.
The
film looks and sounds a treat on DVD (I suppose it has to, otherwise
there wouldn’t be much to recommend about it at all), but the extras
package is possibly even prettier: There are three featurettes, all
rather interesting. One of them takes a look at how they crafted the
amazing upside-down sets and flip-over sequences, another is a home
movie that was apparently filmed by a film school internet on the set,
and thirdly, and most prominently, there’s a History Channel special
about the phenomenon of ‘rogue waves’ – a desperate addition, that has
little to do with the film, but interesting-enough nonetheless. There’s
also a 20-minute making of – featuring interviews with the cast and
crew – that can be found on the first disc.
Conclusion:
Movie 70% Extras: 60%
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