Underwater

Underwater

2020

Director- William Eubank

Cast- Kristen Stewart, Vincent Cassel, Jessica Henwick, T.J. Miller, John Gallagher Jr., Mamoudou Athie

   

    O.K. disclaimer, I may or may not have a bit of a crush on Kristen Stewart that clouds my judgment when appraising this film. Now that my journalistic integrity is still intact, let us proceed.

            

    This film is exactly what you think it is. A group of people are trapped underwater and plagued by monsters.  If you are expecting more than that, you will disappointed. I don’t want to give anything away more than that as far as the plot goes because you may be planning to see it soon and I don’t want to spoil anything, except to say that the scale of the monsters is such that if you can see it while It’s on the big screen, all the better.

            

     I’ve read a lot of comparisons of this to Alien which I think is an unfair comparison. Alien is one of the best (maybe THE best) sci-fi / horror films ever. Comparing anything to that is like comparing something to Seven Samurai or Casablanca. While the film is obviously visually influenced by Alien (the costumes and set designs specifically), you can say the same thing for most of the sci-fi horror films that have come out since Alien (take for instance Event Horizon).  The aesthetics aside, the film is nothing like Alien. Alien builds the tension slowly, revealing one new horror only after we think we have gotten over the previous one. Underwater gets to the action quickly. Within the first five minutes of the film, calamity has hit and people are dying.  If Alien is like a haunted house, Underwater is more like a disaster movie (with monsters).

            

   It offers a lot to scare you with; extreme claustrophobia, the fears of drowning, darkness, suffocation, isolation and gruesome death from either being devoured or crushed by the ocean depths. The film moves along very quickly and intensely, so you better hit the bathroom before you go in.

            

     It has a very small cast which helps because you can get to know everyone quickly. Vincent Cassel as the captain was a great choice to play the older, wizened veteran amongst a younger crew. Kristen Stewart, as the protagonist, does the heavy lifting appearing in every scene. She does a good job and I want lie, seeing her in a skimpy outfit didn’t hurt my opinion.

           

     Looking at Kristen’s short blonde hair, you’d think this film was shot back to back with the ill-fated Charlie’s Angel reboot from 2019. But no, this film was actually completed, and has been sitting on a shelf since 2017. Like many films made recently by Fox, when the Disney buy out was looming, many projects just got put on hold until the new corporate masters could decide what they wanted to do (the hopefully upcoming New Mutants is another one in that same category). I have to wonder if Disney was actually planning on making money on this film or just using it as a tax write off. Releasing it opposite of this year’s Oscar magnet, 1917, WHILE Star Wars and Frozen 2 are still in the theatre (both Disney movies that have each made over a billion dollars each) makes me wonder how serious they were about getting their money back. The film will most likely bomb in the theatre, but perhaps it can still find a fan base.

            

The good- It moves at a very swift pace. Also, there is no explanation of what the monsters are, which I think adds to the film. Are they mutants? The spawn of Cthulhu? You decide.

            

The bad- It feels like there is about 15 or 20 minutes missing. 

            

The Ugly- A close-up of T.J. Miller’s ass in a pair of shredded underwear.

            

     Conclusion- Don’t expect The Abyss. There are only so many James Camerons in the world. However, if you like aquatic monster films like Leviathan, Deepstar Six and Deep Rising, you will like Underwater.