Review of Poseidon (2006) by Jeff B — 16 Jul 2010

Sigmund Freud famously quipped, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." Based on the low expectations usually assigned to summer popcorn cinema, Poseidon is, well, just a cigar, albeit well-rolled. The film pulls no punches, offering nary an undercurrent of subtext or element of surprise, body-count notwithstanding. Rather, the film boasts slightly more than one-dimensional characters played by beautiful actors, razzle-dazzle set pieces reduced to rubble by a well-paid special effects crew, and a breezy execution that sets sail with your full attention. If the multiplex was a local bar, watching Poseidon is like walking in during the summer months and saying, "Give me the usual.".

In director Wolfgang Peterson's PG-13-rated re-imagining (a Hollywood accountants' word for 'remake') of the disaster camp classic The Poseidon Adventure, an ill-fated cruise-liner turned upside down by a titanic wave, forcing a group of survivors (Lucas, Russell, Dreyfuss, and Emmy Rossum) to band together with the hope of finding a way out.

Poseidon lacks the personality of the original. Gone are Gene Hackman's preacher man climbing up the Christmas tree and Shelly Winters's frumpy housewife pulling an Ethel Merman. Instead, the audience has Lucas's suave gambler and Russell's former New York City mayor in a perpetual cockfight. Richard Dreyfuss, however, is the new Red Buttons, injecting the action with a slight, though necessary dose of campiness. A harmless disaster film that keeps your interest, Poseidon offers nothing unique to American cinema, simply taking to heart the immortal words of Popeye: "I yam what I yam.".

Bottom line: Set a course for adventure...and nothing else.