The entirety of this film is what I imagine the trench sequence during Aquaman should have felt more like. William Eubank's delightful creature feature Underwater is the first official 2020 release I have seen this year and while it might be an underwhelming one to start out with, it is nothing short of an entertaining ride. Shot all the way back in 2017 and delayed due to the Disney/Fox merger, this film has been unfortunately dumped into the abyss of January releases but on the positive side, it will most likely become the most memorable. This film is chock full of everything one could expect from a standalone monster movie: cheesy dialogue, static characters, and a frustratingly ambiguous ending, yet these elements somehow never manage to completely disappoint. Despite the wildly predictable and textbook storytelling, there are some fantastic directorial choices and solid performances from this cast that make this film a tense and undeniably entertaining waste of time.
Miles below the surface of the planet lies the largest ocean drill on Earth, populated with some of the most hardworking aquatic researchers, including Norah (Kristen Stewart), Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), Emily (Jessica Henwick), Liam (John Gallagher Jr.) and Captain Lucien (Vincent Cassel). When this crew is struck by a supposed earthquake that devastates the rig and leaves them as the only ones left alive, they must work together to survive the strange attack and make it back to the surface. This script, written by Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad, is where this film's main weaknesses arise. The plot, characters, and dialogue choices made throughout this entire movie are extremely weak and there was, quite frankly, never a point where I could genuinely believe anything coming out of the actors' mouths. Every single character fit a generic stereotype (leading lady, hardass captain, comic relief, etc.) and there were really no standout characteristics of any of them that could make me latch on at all. There were also some elements regarding the tone of this film and its attempted political message that never really worked for me. This story almost felt like it could belong in the Cloverfield universe and even though I am glad it was rather a standalone movie, I could never get that eerie monster tone out of my head. Underwater also tries to apply a message of corporate and capitalist cover-up at the end through newspaper flashes and headlines but I was never fully sold on its idea in the first place. However, I can not actually say anything outright negative about this film; there is nothing that is particularly wrong with it or any choices that do not work, there are just simply so many things that have been seen countless times before and creative suggestions that should have been made. What is most important, though, is how well this film works as a monster movie and if nothing else, it provides some incredibly intense action sequences and some horrifying special effects that were utilized brilliantly.
While the story itself was incredibly predictable and a bit dull at times, William Eubank's strong direction definitely fills in these creative gaps. While most monster films of this genre start off introducing their characters in a peaceful environment before unleashing hell, Underwater does not even have the manners to do that. We get maybe five solid minutes of exposition before being plunged into the neverending depths of terror that drown this entire story. It is not a usual choice to start the action before anyone is even properly introduced but this film has no shame in getting straight to the point. I absolutely have to applaud this film and Eubank for taking this bold route in storytelling and it even made way for some interesting ways of fleshing out these characters. As more of the team is found alive and they join the ranks of the rest, their individual personalities and backstories are revealed. As I had mentioned before, not all of them were quite interesting enough to make me feel bad about their deaths but the choice to not tell what kind of people they were until they were under distress was fantastic and definitely enough to sustain its entertainment factor. For a movie with a runtime of only 95 minutes, a filmmaker is almost forced to dive right into their story and this urgency actually helps this become something much more. Sometimes an audience just really needs a good popcorn movie to start off the new year and thankfully, Eubank has given us all just that. Regardless of how mediocre this entire story was, it is hard not to get invested within this terrifying world. And on top of that, we get to see Stewart fighting water monsters and kicking ass, so I suppose we are all winners.
Underwater might not stick with me for very much longer but the fact that these filmmakers took some creative risks I was not expecting genuinely surprised me. As long as one goes into this film with little to no expectations other than a few fantastic scares, there is no disappointment to be found. And whether she's texting a ghost in an indie film or shooting a flare gun down a sea monster's throat, I will forever support Kristen Stewart in her endeavors.
My Rating: ★★½
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