Review of Black Water (2008) by Andrew C — 29 Aug 2009

Not so much a Man Against Nature movie, more a Man Stuck Up A Tree With His Wife And Sister-In-Law While They Cry, Moan And Refuse To Do Anything Practical To Survive movie.

There's an obvious ecological message here, which the characters read out from guidebooks at every opportunity, and the directors never miss the chance to show lovely panning shots of the environment. In fact, it's so low-key that it almost becomes a feature of the movie, and this approach to the crocodile attacks actually works well.

True story aside, it's an annoying narrative that makes you watch people bicker in a tree while they lose time, daylight and advantage. While every option is explored and argued about, nobody tries to simply get back in the bloody boat and sail away.

Eventually, after everybody else is dead, the last survivor finds the gun we knew was there all along and shoots the crocodile. Then she gets back in the bloody boat and sails away. Jesus...