Underwater Movie Review

This is an article “Underwater” by Marc Primo.

Release date: 10 January 2020 (USA)

Directors: William Eubank

Language: English

Production Companies: Chernin Entertainment

Producers: Peter Chernin, Tonia Davis, Jenno Topping

SPOILER ALERT-- We’ve all encountered several rip-offs over the years but seeing Kristen Stewart go into Ellen Ripley mode may not be as welcome to most fans as we’d expect. In the new deep-sea sci-fi thriller Underwater, we get a digitally enhanced version of Alien with all the usual politics of corporate research going wrong. With it, most parts of the film.

With dyed white-blonde hair that really doesn’t sit well with her beautiful face, Stewart’s Norah seemed like she just got out of prison rather than what the producers were obviously going for-- a cool “against the flow” type of heroine. Her character as a mechanical engineer tasked to work inside an underwater station (or what strangely looks like a maze), together with her fellow researchers, easily hints early on how their vessel is about to turn into the Titanic (despite how it has already sunk deep into the ocean). From when the water starts entering the facility, we start to feel like we are in a different universe with every creak and bang which may somehow succeed in impressing viewers.

After disaster strikes, Norah is joined by Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie), a couple of their crew mates, and their captain (Vincent Cassel) who devises a plan that would lead them to the drill station where they can then reach for the surface. This entails walking along the bottom of the ocean floor which, unfortunately, makes up a huge portion of the movie as we wait for bigger complications to arrive.

Kudos to Stewart for her attitude and willingness towards taking on commercial roles such as this one. Despite having the potential to be one of the classiest actresses out there, based on her most recent roles (including her Sabina Wilson in Charlie’s Angels), it would probably do her a lot of good to reconsider the characters she wants to portray onscreen in her next films. Fans wouldn’t be able to help compare her Norah to Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen in an obvious knock-off of a film that falls short on almost everything. Of course, roles like Norah’s have been a staple for many years with Jodie Foster in Panic Room sharing some close anxiety-induced resemblances. Perhaps with the proper script, Stewart can shape her own iconic roles rather than settle on being close seconds.

Credit also goes to cinematographer Bojan Bazelli (A Cure for Wellness, 6 Underground, The Ring) who was somehow able to keep the action going for most of the film keeping it tight and coherent despite the murky setting. Bazelli was able to give audiences the much-needed tension by using extreme close-up shots so viewers can assume Norah’s point of view and experience the danger as close to first-hand as they can get without losing track of what’s happening all around.

Perhaps the only checklist that director William Eubank deemed appropriate was the one where size matters, and copying Alien monsters was a necessity. With pink alien fetuses and giant jellyfish sporting huge and gnarly fangs chasing the characters, the film becomes a cringefest rather than the terrorizing visual spectacle that it intends to be. Another missing tick-box on the checklist is its scary factor that will put audiences at the edge of their seats. Sadly, the whole film sinks to the bottom with poor scene executions while Stewart’s star is slowly being minimized to a mere disaster-laden starfish struggling to keep itself afloat.

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