Review: UNDERWATER is brainless fun

The late 80s and 90s were the glory days for aquatic horror and sci-fi. From the widescreen grandeur of James Cameron’s The Abyss to intense thrill rides like Deep Rising, filmmakers and audiences all seemed to agree that the sea was a mystifying and potentially terrifying place. Apart from shark attack films like the recent 47 Meters Down franchise, aquatic horror films have basically vanished from view, which makes the arrival of Underwater all the more exciting.

The fact that Underwater is in theatres at all is a surprise; the film was finished way back in 2017, and languished under water ever since, before sliding into theatres in the first week of January, where lackluster movies are generally dumped by studious to die a lonely death.

Thankfully, Underwater is a relatively enjoyable sci-fi horror romp. Kristen Stewart stars as Norah, one of a team of aquatic researchers working deep under the sea. When a sudden earthquake causes their facilities to tear apart, Norah and a handful of survivors have to make their way across the ocean floor to an undamaged section of their laboratory, while contending with some deadly deep-sea creatures.

Much of Underwater feels like a video game mission; a group of professionals has to get from point a to point b, making their way through blow-apart bits of their lab, and eventually through the pitch blackness of the ocean before making it to safety. Helpful location markers even pop up on the screen when the characters arrive at a new location; all that’s missing is a spinning “saving game” icon.

One thing that Underwater has going for it is its breakneck pacing; it almost feels like the entire first act of the film was excised in order to get right into the action. Two minutes into this movie, the compound has already exploded, and Norah is running and sliding through cramped hallways as explosions erupt and water pours in all around her. It’s the sort of insane start to a film that’s usually quickly relegated to a dream sequence, but nope, Underwater is simply up and running and never lets up for the next 90 minutes.

Alongside Stewart, the rag tag group of survivors also includes T.J. Miller as a wisecracking worker (another sign this movie is three years old), Jessica Henwick as the believably terrified Emily, and Vincent Cassel as the steely Captain. Most of the characters are essentially sea creature fodder, which makes it hard to feel much of anything as they’re taken out one by one. The screenplay by Brian Duffield and Adam Cozad does little to distinguish these characters; they each have one trait, which makes them fairly unmemorable. Even Stewart’s Norah has little to set her apart; we’re supposed to care about her because she’s the focus of the film, and has a grim-faced determination to continue their quest regardless of their increasingly dangerous circumstances.

Director William Eubank (The Signal) shoots the action well, and does a solid job of placing viewers right in the heart of the claustrophobic scenarios. Much of the film is dark and grimy (it does take place at the bottom of the sea), which also masks most of the CGI creature effects, for better or for worse.

Overall, Underwater is a fairly satisfying ride. It doesn’t hit the sweet spot of the fan-favourite aquatic horror films of the 90s, but at least it gets right to what (some) viewers want to see. Without getting into spoilers, the final moments of this film really up the ante in such a thrilling way that they almost make up for the number of issues in the earlier parts of the film. If the rest of Underwater had that same sort of scope and ambition it would likely become a cult classic on its own, but as it is, there is still enough here to recommend for horror buffs and those looking for some brainless fun at the movies after the deluge of recent Oscar bait releases.

Underwater is in theatres now.