Not terrible, but the wrong man is the star. Read on for details.
"Poseidon" Review
Josh Lucas- Dylan Johns
Kurt Russell- Robert Ramsey
Jacinda Barrett- Maggie James
Richard Dreyfuss- Richard Nelson
Jimmy Bennett- Conor James
Emmy Rossum- Jennifer Ramsey
Mike Vogel- Christian
Mia Maestro- Elena Gonzalez
Andre Braugher- Captain Michael Bradford
Kevin Dillon- Lucky Larry
Freddy Rodriguez- Marco Valentin
Directed by Wolfgang Petersen
Screenplay by Mark Protosevich, based on the book by Paul Gallico
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Rated PG-13 for intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril
Runtime- 100 minutes
Website- http://poseidonmovie.warnerbros.com/
Wolfgang Petersen's latest flick, "Poseidon," a remake of the 1972 Gene Hackman/Ernest Borgnine disaster epic, has quite a bit going for it. It has a decent story (bunch of people trapped in a flipped over cruise liner in the middle of the ocean have to find a way to the bottom of the boat before the whole thing sinks), outstanding special effects (watch that huge friggin wave smack into the side of that boat. Holy hooey), superb direction from the always exciting Petersen, and Kurt Russell is in it. Russell is always good no matter what. He's a star, he knows how to carry a movie, and you always pay attention to him when he's on screen. It's just too bad that, in this movie, he has to carry the whole thing by himself even though he isn't exactly the star. No, instead Josh Lucas is the first billed star and, apparently, the ultimate protagonist. He's the hero, so to speak.
What the heck was Petersen thinking? Was this his actual choice, or was it something the studio demanded? Is Lucas the new "it" guy or something? In this movie, Lucas is terrible. His character is a jerk, his performance is beyond appalling, and the only thing you likely wonder at the end is it's too bad Gene Hackman didn't return from the dead and drag him under the water Jason style. Lucas' character, Dylan Johns, is a professional gambler. So right there he has all that ultra cool hip and edgy rogue crapola going for him. Perhaps that appeals to some segment of the population (and this reviewer can say that his character is so flawed the black turtlenecks out there, if they go and see it, which they won't, will have to crap themselves repeatedly because he is so hip and edgy and flawed). Thankfully this reviewer isn't in that population. It would have been more believable in a movie sense to have Russell play this character, not so much because he's already been an established heroic movie guy, but because he has actual charisma and we're going to like him no matter what. Lucas, at least in this flick, has zero, absolutely nothing. He's so awful his mere presence brings the flick down two points automatically. That's terrible, because the flick deserves better.
Russell, in the "second fiddle" role (sort of the Gene Hackman role, as opposed to Lucas' anti-Gene Hackman role), plays a concerned father who, after the boat tips over, has to find his daughter (Emmy Rossum). He gets the best line of the movie ("There's nothing fair about who lives or dies here"), does an absolutely outstanding job anyway in his diminished role, and is totally believable in all aspects. Even when we learn that he used to be the mayor of New York City (Kurt Russell as a mayor? Or a politician? What?) we totally believe it. He doesn't get to yell much here, or do the really scrunched face concerned thing. He's doing more of the low voice acting thing he did so well in "Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story" (read this reviewer's review here). If Russell is retiring from acting soon, dang, the movie world is going to lose something special.
The rest of the cast does a decent job. It's a disaster flick, so we're going to have a whole bunch of different types of people on board. The flick doesn't spend much time on character back story or letting us get to know them before the "rogue wave" knocks everything out of whack, so we've got quite the list of people. We've got Richard Nelson the useful homosexual (Richard Dreyfuss in a sort of gay Red Buttons role) who was about to jump over the side of the boat before he saw the wave coming and freaked out; Jacinda Barrett as Maggie James, a single mother onboard, scoping out the single men at the boat's exclusive New Year's Eve bash; Jimmy Bennett as the precocious son of Maggie, Conor James (the fact that he forms a bond with Lucas is disheartening); Emmy Rossum and Mike Vogel as Jennifer Ramsey (Kurt's daughter) and Christian (Jenifer's boyfriend that Kurt doesn't like all that much. Typical father stuff), Mia Maestro as Elena the scared stowaway (claustrophobia), Freddy Rodriguez as Marco the waiter (he gets punked); Kevin Dillon as Lucky Larry the jerk drunk guy (or, really, playing Emilio Estevez); and Andre Braugher as the ship's captain Michael Bradford. Everyone but Braugher gets some decent screen time. Braugher is a great actor, he needs to get a good lead role some day, but here he's relegated to playing "the black guy" (what? Ernie Hudson was unavailable?) and that's too bad, too. It would have been better if he joined Russell in the quest to get to the bottom of the boat. They should have snapped Lucas' neck and left him there.
The death and destruction onboard isn't very bloody, but it is pretty "upsetting." Petersen should do a zombie movie on day. Dead bodies are everywhere, both stuck in the ship's wreckage and in the water (the bit where the boat actually turns over and we get to see the people fall out is simply amazing. You're freaked out by it, but you're still enthralled). The sets are real, and that helps with the many action set pieces. The air duct sequences are the best sequences in the flick. We've seen similar bits before in other movies, but Petersen knows what he's doing here to make it seem unfamiliar and exciting. It's too bad he didn't show that much vision with the lead casting.
Should you go see "Poseidon"? Yes. It's a good time at the movies, even if the lead character is horrendous. You'll get to see some great effects, decent heroics, and an action master at work. The flick could have been improved if there was a bit more character time at the start, but what we get is good anyway. Character history is always good, but if we have to get he story going, well, that's what we should do. And that's what Petersen does.
But, again, who thought Josh Lucas was a good idea? Who?
The 411: “Poseidon” is a fairly decent time at the movies. The lead character is terrible, but we’ve got Kurt Russell carrying it despite the shameful casting. It isn’t like the original, which is actually a good thing. Effects are amazing, the situation is scary, and Dick Dreyfus is gay. You’ll most likely like it.
