My Take - Poseidon Movie Reveiw

Disaster Film Strikes Again!

The adventure film of the summer, Poseidon (2006), began this weekend in my local theater. Harkening back to the early 1970s, Poseidon is the reincarnation of the disaster movie genre that began with films such as Airport (1970) and continued with The Towering Inferno (1974). The star of this film is a behemoth oceanliner named for the Greek god of the sea. The film is from the 1969 novel The Poseidon Adventure by Paul Gallico, and is directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Troy - 2004).

The story takes place on New Year's Eve, amidst celebration, laughter, and an abundance of life. The celebration is short-lived, however, as a rogue tidal wave broadsides the ship, and the real fun begins! As in the original 1972 film (The Poseidon Adventure), a motley group of passen-gers splits off from the main body, in an effort to survive until they can all be rescued-or not.

André Braugher (Thief - 2006) is Captain Bradford, , responsible for the lives of several hundred passengers. Josh Lucas (Glory Road - 2006) is Dylan Johns, a professional gambler and an ex-Navy man. Kurt Russell (Vanilla Sky - 2001) is Robert Ramsey, former mayor of New York and a father trying to reconnect with his adult daughter. Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws - 1975) is architect Richard Nelson, a gay man whose lover has luckily ditched the ship-and Richard. Jacinda Barrett, Jimmy Bennett, Emmy Rossum, Mike Vogel, and Mia Maestro make up the balance of the escape party, not all of whom make it to the finish line.

As movies go, Poseidon has its fair share of suspense and drama. The main characters work well together in discovering solutions to each new challenge, but there is no real chemistry between any of them. The disaster scenes are spectacular, as is the ship itself, but one tends to become immune to calamity after the ninety-ninth dead body.