Movies / Movie Reviews

Poseidon - Wolfgang Petersen and That Sinking Feeling (2007 Oscar Nominee)

By Leroy Douresseaux
February 9, 2007 - 16:13

Poseidon
Starring:  Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss, Jacinda Barrett, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, Mia Maestro, Jimmy Bennett, Freddy Rodriguez, Kevin Dillon, Stacy Ferguson (Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas), and Andre Braugher
DIRECTOR:  Wolfgang Petersen
WRITER:   Mark Protosevich (based upon the novel by Paul Gallico)
PRODUCERS:  Wolfgang Petersen, Duncan Henderson, Mike Fleiss, and Akiva Goldsman
GENRES:  Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller
RATING:  MPAA - PG-13 for intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril
DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures

A rare tidal wave ("rogue wave") capsizes a luxury ocean liner, Poseidon, at sea in the North Atlantic on New Year's Eve and spells disaster for the vast majority of the passengers and crew.  A small band of passengers, however, decides not to wait for rescue and strikes out on their own.  Led by professional gambler Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) and Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), a former mayor of New York, their goal is the bottom of the ship, which, since the wave flipped the boat over, is now the top.  The journey is difficult, and their trip through the bowels of the boat begins their desperate battle for survival.

Director Wolfgang Peterson's Poseidon is a loose remake of director Ronald Neame's 1972 hit film, The Poseidon Adventure (both are based on Paul Gallico's book).  Peterson came to prominence for his World War II submarine drama, Das Boot, and returned to the water nearly two decades later with the smash hit film, The Perfect Storm.  However, as his latest disaster-on-the-ocean film, Poseidon is strictly formulaic entertainment.  It's not great, but it's OK, being too competently made to be bad.

Still, Petersen's heart doesn't really seem to be in this film, and the same can be said of the cast.  Their performances amount to characters that run around screaming at each other, yelling instructions, or pleading with each other to be strong.  The actors are on automatic, and even Kurt Russell, who always stands out on film, acts as if he's putting up with this for the big paycheck.  Ostensibly the star, Josh Lucas doesn't even display whatever it is was that made people think he was going to be a big movie star.

Ironically, it is the presence of a star director in Petersen and a cast of movie stars (Russell, Richard Dreyfus) and up-and-comers (Jacinda Barrett, Emmy Rossum) that would get moviegoers to notice Poseidon in the first place.  In the end, however, Poseidon may be remembered for its spectacular special effects - especially the shipwreck sequence when the tidal wave strikes.  The visual effects for the wave are magnificent in creating a truly scary wave.  The subsequent destruction of the ocean liner itself is awesome, breathtaking, and frightening.

Poseidon is noisy and occasionally exciting, and quite a few images stick in the mind (all the bodies scattered about the Poseidon), but it's just mediocre entertainment product.  Poseidon is a movie about a cast of characters running away from the high-quality visual effects and raucous pyrotechnics that are trying to kill them.

C+

2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for "Best Achievement in Visual Effects" (Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chas Jarrett, and John Frazier)

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Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12