Mini Reviews (May, June 2006)

Poseidon (May 11/06)

Stripped of pesky elements such as exposition and character development, Poseidon is generally propelled forward by an almost relentless emphasis on larger-than-life action set pieces and an overall sense of spectacle. Like its forebearer, 1972's The Poseidon Adventure, the film follows a group of passengers as they attempt to make their way to safety aboard a capsized luxury liner - including a former mayor (Kurt Russell), a suicidal architect (Richard Dreyfuss), and a jaded card shark (Josh Lucas). Director Wolfgang Petersen - working from Mark Protosevich's screenplay - effectively transforms the film into a mindlessly diverting piece of summer entertainment, and although the viewer doesn't have a whole lot invested in the fate of these characters, the brisk pace and uniformly strong cast ensure that the movie is (at the very least) rarely boring. In terms of the latter, as good as folks like Russell and Lucas are, it's Dreyfuss who winds up stealing every single one of his admittedly scant scenes. It seems fairly obvious that Poseidon wouldn't come off nearly as well as it does were it not for the efforts of Dreyfuss and his fellow actors, though Petersen once again proves that he's a master at this sort of thing.

Before it takes a disastrous turn sometime around the one-hour mark, Wolf Creek comes off as an effective and thoroughly tense horror flick that's stylish without being obtrusive. Writer/director Greg McLean, making his debut, infuses the movie with an undeniably creepy vibe, eschewing the slickness that generally seems to accompany most contemporary horror movies in favor of a distinctly old-school sort of feel. Evidently based on a true story, Wolf Creek follows a trio of hapless backpackers as they're unwittingly lured into the den of a maniacal serial killer - where the three are summarily tortured and taunted by said psychopath. McLean smartly avoids the temptation to turn these characters into generic horror-movie archetypes, although - unfortunately - the filmmaker falls back on increasingly hoary cliches as the film progresses (ie there's a scene in which one of the backpackers manages to knock her assailant unconscious, but inexplicably fails to finish him off). The inclusion of several other similarly ludicrous sequences ultimately transforms Wolf Creek into a run-of-the-mill slasher picture, which is undoubtedly a real shame given the strength of the film's opening hour.