A remake of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) with an inevitable comparison to the sensational Titanic (2000), director Wolfgang Petersen's latest work, Poseidon, is a well-crafted disaster thriller.

 

 

Like its two precedents, Poseidon is the carrier on which a series of incidents happen. However, the director seems too hurried to give audiences enough time to familiarize with the characters in the movie that he sets on the luxury liner capsized just 15 minutes after the movie begins.

 

The survivors assemble in the grand ballroom of the liner, where they are told to stay calm by Captain Bradford (Andre Braugher) who reassures them that an emergency signal has been automatically sent off. Moreover, the entire ballroom is like an airtight capsule that is waterproof to prevent the ship sinking.

 

What may surprise audiences is the incredible deed of the captain, who, after giving reassuring remarks to the passengers, abandons his passengers to seek his own way out. As always happens, heroes will arise under such circumstances to lead people out of trouble. In Poseidon, a professional gambler Dylan Johns (Josh Lucas) is that man. He is joined by several other restless characters who want to make their way up to the top (bottom) of the liner. Neither too extreme, nor too dull, the following incidents keep the film moving at a tight pace that keeps viewers transfixed for the whole 99 minutes.

 

Poseidon and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown will be the only two foreign movies screened in cinemas from June 10 to July 10 as the State Radio, Film and TV Administration has designated the month devoted to domestic movies as a way of protecting domestic film industry.

 

(China Daily June 9, 2006)