Poseidon

A huge ocean liner gets capsized by a mother of a wave, and survivors must make their way to the bottom of the boat (now the top) to make it out alive. The original film this one is based on, The Poseidon Adventure, was a great, goofy movie. As silly as it was, it managed some decent drama due to a cast that included Gene Hackman, Shelley Winters and, my hero, Ernest Borgnine. This $160 million remake with Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell and Richard Dreyfuss collecting paychecks and getting wet while grimacing, is a bubble-headed dud. It’s surprising, what with Wolfgang Petersen at the helm. He’s responsible for two of the better “water” pictures out there, with Das Boot and The Perfect Storm among his credits. Regrettably, it appears that Wolfgang and company were just going through the motions for this one. It attempts nothing new with the premise and manages to be cornier than the original—and not in a good way.