Review of Poseidon (2006) by Cameron J — 03 Jun 2011

All right, who's ready for my review of "Nooi3sod"? Oh, I'm sorry that says "Poseidon". The upside-down title on the poster is very confusing. But seriously though, the film suffers from an extreme lack of development, a bad soundtrack, rushing and some lack of memorability. Also, towards the end, the film wears "inspired by 'Titanic'" on its sleeve like you wouldn't believe. Of course, the biggest problem is easily the script, which is jam-packed with cliches and some questionable character behavior. In spite of this, the film is really supported by compellingness, spectacular sound editing, a solid score (not soundtrack, score), tensity, some emotional impact, some good performances, as well as absolutely remarkable visual effects and production designs that are really complemented by the truly stunning cenimatography.

Still, with all of my complaints and praise, one question still remains: "How does it fair against the original?" Now, I'm a sucker for compellingness and as much as I enjoyed the original, it focused a bit too much on campy entertainment, where as this one is action, action, action, action, as well as action and heavier drama without the campy fun to serve as a distraction. The film is more of a re-imagining than a remake, not just because it's been modernized with new characters and drastic adjustments to the story, but because it's so much darker in tone. While the film has better potential to work with and really hits harder on a lot of notes, it falls flat on just as many other notes that the original nailed. So, to summarize, where the film is better in concept, execution and writing is not as sharp, leaving it to be, if anything, right up there with the original, but in a completely different department.

Ultimately, "Nooi3sod" - I mean, "Poseidon" (stupid poster) feels more shallow and hard to remember but boasts enough dazzling technical value and compellingness to make it a very different, though perhaps just as enjoyable take on the classic tale.