Deep sea explorations are something that have always fascinated me. We've gone to the moon and beyond, yet there are places deep below the ocean floor that have yet to be discovered, harboring any number of creatures not seen by human eyes. "Underwater" tries to play off that premise, but fails to execute it successfully in any really meaningful way.
For a very basic overview, this movie focuses on a deep-water drilling station within the Marianas Trench. Ostensibly shadowing one worker, Norah (Kristin Stewart), it tells the story of how their drills tap into something that nearly wrecks the whole operation. With everything on the fritz and workers forced to ocean-walk from place to place, it quickly becomes clear they are being stalked by some sort of presence dredged up from the depths.
First and foremost, "Underwater" could most easily be described as an "Alien" clone, swapping space for the ocean floor and Sigourney Weaver for Stewart (right down to the haircut and skimpy clothing, in all honesty). Unfortunately, while that concept was new and fresh in the 1970s, it doesn't work that way in 2020.
So, what would have been needed to make this film solid was a great script, and there isn't even a speck of that here. Very clearly, this was the studio saying "let's make an Alien clone, and we'll paste in the details as we go along". It's both sad and disappointing, as there are indeed elements of interest present. Deep-water exploration is fascinating, drilling for resources at those depths could have been examined from a colonizing sort of perspective, and/or the psychological effects of spending so much time under the pressures of the sea. Sadly, none of those potential topics are provided anything more than lip service.
As such, "Underwater" plays out more like a horror creature-feature. It is simply a group of people being chased around from point to point by a menacing figure that is finally revealed in the end. The design or technical specs of the monster is intriguing, to be sure, but when there is literally nothing else to care about it doesn't amount to much in the end.
Overall, this is a very poorly conceived film and I can see why it is floundering at the box office. Not original enough to be scary, and not plot/character rich enough (by far) to be interesting in any other ways. A brutal combination. Only the concept will keep you watching whatsoever.
For a very basic overview, this movie focuses on a deep-water drilling station within the Marianas Trench. Ostensibly shadowing one worker, Norah (Kristin Stewart), it tells the story of how their drills tap into something that nearly wrecks the whole operation. With everything on the fritz and workers forced to ocean-walk from place to place, it quickly becomes clear they are being stalked by some sort of presence dredged up from the depths.
First and foremost, "Underwater" could most easily be described as an "Alien" clone, swapping space for the ocean floor and Sigourney Weaver for Stewart (right down to the haircut and skimpy clothing, in all honesty). Unfortunately, while that concept was new and fresh in the 1970s, it doesn't work that way in 2020.
So, what would have been needed to make this film solid was a great script, and there isn't even a speck of that here. Very clearly, this was the studio saying "let's make an Alien clone, and we'll paste in the details as we go along". It's both sad and disappointing, as there are indeed elements of interest present. Deep-water exploration is fascinating, drilling for resources at those depths could have been examined from a colonizing sort of perspective, and/or the psychological effects of spending so much time under the pressures of the sea. Sadly, none of those potential topics are provided anything more than lip service.
As such, "Underwater" plays out more like a horror creature-feature. It is simply a group of people being chased around from point to point by a menacing figure that is finally revealed in the end. The design or technical specs of the monster is intriguing, to be sure, but when there is literally nothing else to care about it doesn't amount to much in the end.
Overall, this is a very poorly conceived film and I can see why it is floundering at the box office. Not original enough to be scary, and not plot/character rich enough (by far) to be interesting in any other ways. A brutal combination. Only the concept will keep you watching whatsoever.