Josh Lucas as Dylan Johns
Kurt Russell as Robert Ramsey
Jacinda Barrett as Maggie James
Richard Dreyfuss as Richard Nelson
Jimmy Bennett as Conor James
Emmy Rossum as Jennifer Ramsey
Mike Vogel as Christian
Mía Maestro as Elena Gonzalez
Andre Braugher as Captain Michael Bradford
Kevin Dillon as Lucky Larry
Freddy Rodríguez as Marco Valentin
Kirk B.R. Woller as Chief Officer Reynolds
Kelly McNair as Emily
Stacy Ferguson as Gloria
Gabriel Jarret as First Officer Chapman
Summary:
While “Poseidon” features some impressive destruction, it doesn’t do much to top its 1972 predecessor, “The Poseidon Adventure.” You may just want to rent that instead of hitting the theater.
Story:
“Poseidon” is a remake of the 1972 film “The Poseidon Adventure.”
During a New Year’s Eve cruise, the Poseidon is suddenly struck by a monstrous rogue wave. The wall of water flips the cruise ship over and leaves it floating upside down. Among the survivors is Dylan Johns, a professional gambler who decides he doesn’t want to wait for impending doom. He decides to make his way to the bottom of the ship, which is now the top, and find a means of escape. Despite his reservations, Dylan is accompanied by a ragtag group that includes the former mayor of New York, his daughter, her fiancé, a stowaway, a mother and child, and a suicidal gay man. Who will live and who will die as they make their way through the doomed ship?
“Poseidon” is rated PG-13 for intense prolonged sequences of disaster and peril.
What Worked:
If you’re looking for a decent disaster flick, “Poseidon” delivers. It effectively plays up basic human fears and makes the most use of them on the big screen. They include fears of drowning, claustrophobia, falling from heights, fire, electrocution, a mother watching a child die, and other horrors. The film will definitely make you squirm.
The acting is also adequate nothing special, but it gets the job done. Kurt Russell delivers a solid performance as one of the heroes. The same goes for Josh Lucas who once again proves he can handle being a leading man. On a weird side note, many of the actors looked like other famous actors and actresses. Stacy Ferguson looked like a Rene Russo clone. Jacinda Barrett looked like Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. Kevin Dillon looks like Matt Dillon in “There’s Something About Mary.” It was like a cast of impersonators, but it was fun.
What Didn’t Work:
Unfortunately, “Poseidon” doesn’t really do anything new. It doesn’t build on its predecessor, “The Poseidon Adventure,” and make it better. It’s just a straight up action flick with the characters going from action scene A to action scene B. It doesn’t help that the characters aren’t as memorable as Gene Hackman or even Shelly Winters. The same goes for the effects. We already saw a ship sink in “Titanic.” While the ship rolling scene in “Poseidon” is impressive, it’s nothing we didn’t already see in James Cameron’s film. For this reason the film is just mediocre. It’s decent for a popcorn flick and it’s worth checking out until better summer movies come along, but if you’ve seen the trailers then you’ve seen most of what “Poseidon” has to offer.
The Bottom Line:
While “Poseidon” is an OK film, you might want to just save money and rent “The Poseidon Adventure.”
