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The Movie: "Poseidon" opens on-board the ship of the title, introducing us to the main characters: ex-mayor of New York City Robert Ramsay (Kurt Russell), Ramsay's daughter, Jennifer (Emmy Rossum), and her fiancé, Christian (Mike Vogel); Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss); single mother Maggie James (Lucinda Barrett) and her son, Conor (Jimmy Bennett); Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) and Elena (Mia Maestro). Oddly enough, it's really only mere minutes (just under the 15 minute mark!) after being introduced to these characters that a giant wave hits the boat and turns it over. As the picture goes forward, the boat slowly starts to sink. Anyone who's ever sat through a Summer blockbuster and wondered why it's taking so long to get to the asteroid/aliens/wave/whatever may be pleased with this movie - the film has the least amount of set-up I think I've ever seen. The issue becomes that, without any real character development or story (and I'm not expecting a complex story and characters from "Poseidon", but this really doesn't provide the minimum), it becomes rather difficult to find this remake all that compelling. After the chaos of the wave, the rest of the picture is spent with the one-dimensional main characters going through an obstacle course (essentially, a lot of dark hallways with a lot of water often not far behind them) as they try to head upwards towards any hope of safety. There's also the standard little bits-and-pieces of drama between the characters to contend with in the process. The dialogue is rather sparse (and often has characters yelling to each other exactly what's going on, as if the audience wasn't already ahead of the situation) and the story is thin enough to wonder whether there was an actual screenplay or that the filmmakers just went forward with an idea and made things up on-the-fly. While there is a credited screenwriter (Mark Protosevich, known for his draft of "I Am Legend"), they really could have thrown the actors into the cold, watery sets and had them improv and I can't imagine the result would be vastly different. It'd be the "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" of action movies. The performances really aren't too bad and they make the movie more tolerable than it would have otherwise been. Russell, Lucas and others do a decent job making characters that aren't even one-dimensional as written one-dimensional. Technically, the film offers some good (both practical and CG) effects (although some of the smaller effects are not quite as convincing), sets and cinematography. However, after the big opening sequences, the running through hallways and ducts gets rather repetitive. It all works towards an ending so abrupt that I wondered aloud, "that's it?" While the idea of yet another "remake" isn't a welcome one, "Poseidon" certainly had potential to be better than the forgettable Summer movie it is. The DVD VIDEO: "Poseidon" is presented by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The presentation quality is generally terrific, with only a few minor flaws spotted. Sharpness and detail were a little inconsistent on occasion, but the picture mostly looked crisp and well-defined. As for flaws, no print flaws were noted and the presentation was free of any edge enhancement. A few minor trace instances of artifacting were briefly spotted, but hardly noticable. Colors were rich and deep, with nice saturation and no smearing. SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 presentation is a good, solid, slam-bang affair that provides the expected surround activity. It's not long before the ship flips over and, from that point on, the audio remains consistently aggressive, with plenty of surround use for sound effects (rushing water, explosions, creaking from the boat, etc.) ambience and reinforcement of the score. Dialogue remained consistently crisp and clear, with no distortion or other issues. EXTRAS: A 22-minute featurette offers some interesting production tidbits (the movie moved forward without a script, how CG was used to put an actor on a CG vessel at sea, the movie filmed in continuity, effects and more) and provides more information than these EPK pieces usually do. Final Thoughts: "Poseidon" offers a couple of thrills and fine performances considering the material. Unfortunately, there's really no set-up, the action starts to seem repetitive and the whole thing feels largely forgettable by the end credits. The DVD edition provides excellent audio/video quality, but not much in the way of extras (although a 2-DVD special edition w/a few more extras is available.) A light rental recommendation. 
Film Grade The Film C DVD Grades Video 92/A Audio: 95/A Extras: 70/C- |