Released: January 2020
Director: William Eubank
Rated PG-13
Run Time: 95 Minutes
Distributor: 20th Century Fox
Genre: Science Fiction/Horror
Cast:
Kristen Stewart: Norah
Jessica Henwick: Emily
T.J. Miller: Paul
Vincent Cassel: Captain
John Gallagher, Jr.: Smith
Mamoudou Athie: Rodrigo
Ah, January: The month where movies that studios have no faith in go to die. Seriously, though, January is never a good month for movies in general, let alone horror movies. People usually don’t go out to see movies in one of the coldest months of the year, and movie studios generally know that. Whenever they have a film that they feel won’t make them money or might not get the reception that it may deserve, they dump it in January where the film will almost certainly tank. I’ve seen it happen with a lot of movies including Underworld and Split. Now, that does not necessarily mean that all movies released during this month are awful. Not at all. There have been some pretty good films like Split that have surprised people, but for the most part, January is the WORST time of year for movies. The box-office numbers are well below average and the overall quality of the films released during this period are not very good. So, whenever something comes out in January that may look interesting, most people will assume that it’s not going to be any good, which is a shame for movies like Underwater, because sometimes you get a movie that is actually pretty damned good.
Underwater starts off with a bang at a deep-sea drilling facility at the bottom of the Mariana Trench. During a supposed earthquake, the facility begins to crumble and implode under the immense pressure of the ocean. Norah, a mechanical engineer tries to warn people to get out before the section she’s in collapses. Norah manages to survive along with a handful of other survivors including the captain, Smith, Paul, Rodrigo, and Emily. Realizing that they are on borrowed time in their current facility, the survivors have to get their deep-sea suits and try to navigate their way to another facility that may be more stable. Little do they realize, that all the drilling in the trench has awoken something in the dark. Story-wise, Underwater feels very familiar, especially since I’ve been a huge fan of underwater creature features for decades. This film reminds me of movies like Leviathan and DeepStar Six. That’s not necessarily a bad thing as I really love those two movies. We don’t get a whole lot of these kinds of movies anymore and it’s a damn shame, because when done right, they are absolutely spine-tingling and intense. There is something truly terrifying about being at the bottom of the ocean beneath thousands of pounds of pressure per square inch. It helps immerse the audience in the isolation and claustrophobia of that part of the planet. Yeah, it’s a pretty straight-forward plot about survival, but it really works.
After seeing three of the Twilight movies, I quickly wrote off Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson as actors that weren’t very good. How wrong I was. Robert Pattinson turned in an incredible performance in The Lighthouse and Kristen Stewart does a fantastic job here as Norah. Ms. Stewart has proven herself a more than capable actress. I think she can carry a movie on her shoulders and Underwater is strong proof of that. While there isn’t a whole lot to the characters, every actor brings their A-game to the film. Vincent Cassel is pretty good as the captain, and doesn’t come across as the stereo-typical jack-ass that you tend to see with those roles. He’s always been a fantastic actor. T.J. Miller is…well, T.J. Miller, although he keeps is “Miller-isms” to a minimum here. I’m not the biggest fan of his character, but he does pretty well with what he’s given. I really like Jessica Henwick and John Gallagher, Jr. as Emily and Smith respectively. I think they make a fantastic couple. I have to say, it’s rare to see a film where every character is likable. Usually in a movie like this, you have one or two that you can’t wait to see die horribly. Here? Not so much and I think that’s fantastic. That’s a credit to the director and the writers of the film.
In the story section of this post, I said that the movie starts of with a bang, and I wasn’t kidding. It’s not even three minutes into the film before everything starts going to hell. Because of that, the film moves at a break-neck pace from beginning to end and it doesn’t really leave a lot of time for the audience to catch their breath. The 95 minute run-time for this film is absolutely perfect. From the moment the structures begin to collapse, it’s non-stop race for survival. It gets even more intense when the creatures start showing up. For a low-budget film, it’s a pretty CGI heavy affair, but it’s done in such a way that you barely notice it. You’re so engaged with what’s happening with the characters on the ocean floor that sometimes you miss the scale of where they are. The scale is very surprising given the low-budget nature of the movie. It’s really quite spectacular what they’ve accomplished here. In terms of violence and gore, it definitely has some. While it is a PG-13 film, it pushes that rating to the limit at certain moments. The creatures themselves are like something out of an HP Lovecraft story. You rarely get a good look at these things, but when you do, you’re like, “Oh, snap!” I love the creature designs in all honesty. I would have loved to see more practical models, but considering what the film-makers had to work with, I’ll take what I can get. I also love the set and costume designs. Those definitely have an Alien-vibe about them.
If there’s really one major issue that I have with the film, is that we aren’t given enough time to really get invested in the characters. Yeah, they’re kind of likable, but we really don’t have enough time to get to know them. Granted, the film moves so quickly that we really don’t have enough time outside of a couple of lines of dialogue, but I would’ve like to have learned at least a little bit more about each character. There’s also nothing particularly original about the film, from its set-up to its conclusion. If you’ve seen movies like Leviathan and DeepStar Six, you kind of know how this going to end. Truth be told, however, I don’t mind. The fact that we managed to get another deep-sea monster movie after 20+ years is a minor miracle in my opinion. From what I understand, this film was technically finished in 2017, but due to the fact that Fox got bought out by Disney, plans for the film were left high and dry, pardon the pun. I don’t really think they knew what they had here, so they dumped it three years later in January of the new decade. I honestly hope that people will get out to see this movie. It’s a lot of fun and it’s a real ride from beginning to end.
My Final Recommendation: I’m staying on dry land, thank you very much. 9/10