I was kind of laying prostate in my bed this morning feeling weird because of the full moon last night. It’s strange; I swear because we are closer to the sky out here that we feel the lunar effects even more then most. So I was laying there kind of bummed out and I was trying to think of what would make me feel better.

What I came up with was to go see Poseidon, the remake of the 1972 classic, The Poseidon Adventure. One of the main reasons for me to even entertain a remake of such a camp classic is that it stars one of my favorites, Kurt Russell. I mean you really can’t even begin to compare the cast from the original to this one. Dreyfuss and Russell are certainly not Hackman or Borgnine and of course there is absolutely no way of replacing Shelly Winters. So let’s try to forget about the original because it’s the only way you can really even begin to evaluate any kind of remake; by pretending there is nothing else to base an opinion on and taking this film as a piece by itself. Does it stand up alone?

Kind of. It’s directed by the German born Wolfgang Petersen (THE PERFECT STORM, OUTBREAK), a man that’s no stranger to action films, or films about boats in the ocean being attacked by waves. What he does successfully is bring about the disorientation that would occur if a cruise ship were to flip over. The problem is that he does this even in the beginning of the film with the opening sequence where we see Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) running around the ship (presumably because we’re establishing that his character is in great shape) and the camera is just going all over the place on the ship with him, which for an opening sequence is very disorienting. There are some really great action sequences though, and anyone who is a fan of bad action (as I am) will appreciate a lot of the sequences. There is also a really great build up of suspense. The scene within one of the air conditioner shafts is especially harrowing to watch as an audience member.

Another thing that this film accomplishes is establishing connections with the characters to the audience. The mortality rate is pretty high in this one, but that doesn’t mean that you aren’t genuinely attached to some of the characters and what their problems or foibles may be. There are some you’d rather see go then others, but at least the film makes this connection. There wouldn’t be much of a film otherwise.

What I didn’t enjoy was some of the dialogue/acting in the film. There are just some god awful moments when some of the actors are given the most ridiculous lines to say and you can tell that it’s hard even for them to deliver them. The rest of the cast, before it gets pared down, is also pretty horrible. Once you get to the main players the acting is pretty excellent. Rusell never disappoints me and Lucas is OK. Dreyfuss is a little rusty it seems, but pulls out a pretty good role on the end.

Poseidon is a great action movie, it is something to go see on a hot summer day during a matinee. Don’t pay full price and don’t go in expecting to be blown away by great writing/acting. The action is enough to hold your attention and so is the anticipation of who may be the next to go. I wouldn’t call it a must see, but it certainly did its part in entertaining me and taking me away from my otherwise strange weekend.

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