|
Poseidon, a 20-storey luxury liner is cruising the North Atlantic Ocean on New Year's Eve.
In the midst of the celebration, a giant tidal wave capsizes the ship and traps passengers who survive this initial disaster. Despite the admonitions of the ship captain to stay put for safety, Dylan Johns (Josh Licas), a ne'er do well gambler and casino habitue decides to find a way out of the confusing labyrinths in the upside down boat. Teaming up with him is Robert Ramsey (Kurt Russell), a former city mayor traveling with his headstrong daughter Jennifer (Emma Rossum) and her boy friend Christian (Mike Vogel). Maggie James (Jacinta Barrett), a single mother with her small son Conor, decides to follow Dylan who had earlier flirted with her. Richard Nelson (Richard Dreyfuss) a gay architect as well as Elena (Mia Maestro), a stowaway who wants to visit her sick brother in New York, also joins the group. They decide to brave the dangerous exploration of an exploding, burning and flooding ship to find an exit. Will they all survive the ordeal?
When Paul Gallico's novel was made into a movie The Poseidon Adventure in 1972, the film enjoyed popular
support. But with more stunning special effects due to CGI, Poseidon, the newly released remake has bested the old picture. Though just as plotless, the new
version, however, fields characters that are different and perhaps better "attuned" to current tastes and trends in film.
No fat woman is singled out this time, only three plucky attractive women. Director Petersen has also included a love-lorn gay architect in his ensemble. The viewer has little opportunity to know the characters before disaster strikes but through the solid performances of the actors, they reveal their true selves under great stress. The whole movie takes place within only the confines of a ship but one may be impressed with the variety and creativity evident in the terrifying and gruesome scenes. Aside from the powerful visuals, this movie grips the viewers with uninterrupted suspense till the end.
Poseidon could have been just one of those adventure/thriller blockbusters that proliferate the screens nowadays. But it has a heart and that puts it a
cut above the rest.
It is said that a crisis can bring out the best or the worst in men. In this movie, it reveals the best. The least "respectable" of the characters, a gambler, rises to the occasion and becomes the leader of a group, trying out uncertain dangerous options of escape by himself before letting others do it. We see courage, heroism, generosity of spirit, concern for others, willingness to risk death in order to save (as in the case of the little boy trapped behind a wire mesh) and willingness to sacrifice especially for those one loves, (like the father who does it for his daughter and her fiance as well as others). We see the beauty of helping one another in trying times. The film is a tribute to the human spirit, its resilience, its resources and its capability to rise above the most dire of circumstances.
(Date Reviewed: 12 May 2006)
|
