Underwater

Science fiction media has been around for ages to the point where many entries will end up copying elements and story types from the classic features that made those troupes famous. This kind of group can be referred to as the recycling bin of throwaways that exist to be background noise to fall asleep to with bland characterization, deaths that are goofy/over-the-top, overused plots such as escaping a disaster, and rushed executions. These can exist as either lower budget TV flicks that can be seen on the Sci-fi channel or high budget theatrical releases cash in on those modern trends of the genre. The quality can certainly vary depending on the entertainment value, regardless of the size of the movie itself. This brings us to Underwater, another entry within this group that was filmed back in 2017 under 20th Century Fox before Disney purchased the studio and had it shelved until January 2020. The marketing for this felt rather standard and stock with trying to draw in the audience with having TJ Miller in it (who torpedoed his public image even more after they finished filming) not helping matters. However, like any movie with its premise, there can be some hidden gems in there to boost the quality. I rented it on Amazon ready to give it a chance and ended up feeling bored by the stock watching experience.

What's it about? The story follows a group of scientists venturing out to reach escape pods when the underwater drilling facility is compromised by dangers in the area. The first half of the feature shines the best when it comes to having tension. The usage of sounds when in the facilities or in a suit for trekking through the vast underwater space is done well. The production design is competent with what they are going for with the environment. 

However, there are plenty of elements holding this back from being a competent feature that isn't forgettable. The characterization for these people are very weak with each of them having like one line or quirk to establish themselves with. As a result, the empathy for the deaths that follows rings very ineffective. The predictable cliches associated with a plot like this rears its head between which archetypes among the group die, a large version of smaller creatures emerging in the second half, and some half-baked writing for the main protagonist to think they are deep or went through development. 

 

How are the actors? In regards to story importance, the actress to focus on is Kristen Stewart. Despite the lackluster material her lead role is given, Kristen does a solid performance for this kind of feature by making the most of it before moving onto better projects. She is essentially the only one of the main cast with the best amount of effort. Honorable mention goes to Jessica Henwick for giving decent performance in a support role that feels a tiny bit better than the rest of them. Dishonorable mention goes to TJ Miller for his attempts at comedy falling flat and feeling like an annoying detriment that you wouldn't mind seeing killed off.

Overall Consensus: Underwater is a forgettable sci-fi suspense film that suffers from bland characters, overused troupes, and predictable plot but shines with some solid beginning tension and good production design. ⭑⭑⭑1/4 Runtime: 1 hour 34 minutes PG-13

 

Reasons to watch it: You like any of the aforementioned actors and/or director William Eubank. You don't mind predictable recycled premises. You are like being scared by any underwater setting. You want to see the 20th Century Fox logo one last time before it was rebranded to 20th Century Studios.

 

Reasons to avoid it: You dislike any of the aforementioned actors and/or director William Eubank. You are bored with predictable recycled premises or cliches.