Closet Sci-Fi Geek

“Poseidon,” the remake of “The Poseidon Adventure,” has been getting some pretty bad reviews. I have been a huge fan of the original since I was a kid, so I catched “Poseidon” at a matinee earlier today to see how it measured up:

1. Special effects: Fantastic. Loved the rogue wave coming through, though you won’t see much more than what’s shown in the previews. Seeing it on a really huge screen was really cool, though.

2. Motley group of characters: Fairly decent, though not as fun or diverse as the original.

3. Richard Dreyfuss: Loved seeing him onscreen again. I wish he had done more.

4. Kurt Russell: Aging, and not very gracefully. Still a decent leading man, however.

5. Best Scene: Navy seal guy diving into a pool of burning water. Thumbs up.

6. Gratuitous deaths along the way: Not enough. A few spectacular deaths, but not as many as in the original it seems. They could have done more with this. The original “Poseidon Adventure” was, in a sense, the precursor to stuff like “Final Destination.” We want to see people die!

7. Plot: Fine. I don’t get why people are complaining about this screenplay or calling it “plodding” – it’s very straightforward. Ship capsizes, people get stuck, a few go off on their own to escape. It’s non-stop action throughout most of the movie.

Overall, I thought “Poseidon” was a fine remake and quite entertaining. No, it’s not a film classic, and heck, the first one has already been there and done that. But it was decent shlock for a nice afternoon matinee. And it was updated enough to make things interesting, even for fans of the original.

I’d say, keep your expectations in line and give it a chance. It’s not that bad.

May 25th, 2006 | Category: Movies | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL