I often wonder what it takes to make a person do a job that is dangerous. I mean as a kid I did stupid things because at that age we all think we are going to live forever, but as you get older, I mean what is it? The hazard pay is the usual reason, but there is always something more to it. For me, living vicariously through the movies can be enough to fill my thrill meter, they also serve as warnings and have taught me to do certain things. Like, ever. For this reason, I don’t go into the woods alone, go outside to investigate a spooky noise or go into shark infested waters and after seeing Underwater, I can assure you, I will never be a deep sea diver.
Some company thought it would be a good idea to drill at the deepest part of the ocean’s floor, I mean what could go wrong right? Well for the crew of over 300 it seems quite a bit and for Norah (Kristen Stewart) brushing her teeth just got real as the station starts to collapse all around her. Luckyly for her she and another guy make it to safety before it’s too late, but while they are safe for the time being the station doesn’t have long and they must find a way to escape. In their search they run into the Captain (Vincent Cassel) and make it to the bridge to find Emily (Jessica Henwick) and Smith (John Gallagher Jr.) and things start to look much worse than they realized. With not many options the Captain comes up with a plan for them to walk to another station, which is their only way to survive. Along the way they find out the real reason for the station’s problems and they figure out maybe they were never meant to be that deep to begin with.
Now if you thought being miles underwater was scary enough, the people behind Underwater have pretty much said “hold my beer.” Because it’s scary waiting for water pressure that wants to crush you, how about a creature that is pissed off you were drilling into its home? Written by Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad and directed by William Eubank, what these three have given us is The Blair Witch, under the sea. There are some legit good scares, but the real power the movie brings is in the tension it builds as there are times you don’t know what is going on because of the unknown setting. The cast is small and lead by Stewart and Cassel, they are solid and their intensity carries you throughout the film. For me, this movie reaches the point that it was striving for, with that being something that will scare you and keep you at the edge of your seat. Most importantly though it will talk you out of ever wanting to be a deep sea diver, because you don’t want to run into what could be living that deep.
