Review of Black Sea (2014) by Lane Z — 19 Jul 2016

Black Sea won't rival too many of the famed submarine movie relics of years past. It's not as hectic as U-571 or anywhere close to as silly as Down Periscope or even remotely as boring as The Hunt for Red October, but Black Sea still offers a solid, though rudimentary, thriller that probably doesn't stick to its guns enough in the end.

Firstly, Jude Law puts in a fantastic performance as the sub's captain. A man who feels he's been down on his luck in his personal life and his professional, we immediately get the feel of why he's so desperate to get a crew together and search for gold. Surely the movie wouldn't be made if we never did find the gold, but the writers never gave any hints of it actually not existing, so the mystery was never really there. The feints and misdirection weren't carried out with great skill either. From the moment the crew, half Russian and half English-speaking, step on board, there's an immediate clarity for the viewer of how things will play out, and Kevin Macdonald does nothing extraordinary to subvert those expectations.

But the positives outweigh the negatives because of the dedication of said cast. I always marvel to see Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy back together again since Killing Me Softly.

So while no punches are thrown at the audience to really push Black Sea over the top and make it memorable both in story and in writing, there are just enough harrowing moments that are executed to near perfection because of its committed cast. Though everyone plays to type, the offer at redemption near the end instead of a true dive into bleakness probably keep Black Sea in the conversation of run-of-the-mill instead of stand-out-sub movies.