Skip to main content

Deepwater Horizon (2016) - Movie Review



Deepwater Horizon is a disaster movie based on true events. It is about an offshore drilling rig where things took the turn for the worst, resulting in the largest oil disaster in USA's history. I'm an avid disaster movie fan, and while you do get fictional ones every now and then, getting a well-executed one based on a true story is almost non-existent. Hence, I was very contented when the movie was over.

Peter Berg, just like with Lone Survivor, returns to direct with Mark Wahlberg as the lead in another based-on-a-true-story movie. And in a similar fashion, the movie spends a hefty amount of time on the first act, setting up the characters and location etc, leading up to the climactic release. The screen-time was distributed properly, no one character hogged all the time and apart from the setup, no focus to lovey-dovey stuff was given, all of which contributed to a solid first act.

The acting was good all around. Mark Wahlberg did a good job (great at times) as this average joe worker on Deepwater. He is accompanied by Kurt Russel, who's the boss and it was great to see him in a good role. You also get John Malkovich as this cancerous and greedy BP exec, who did a fine job in making you not like him and be the temp villain of sorts. The movie does a good enough job of making these people feel real, so that you get invested more to what's about to come. 

After the setup and first act, the disaster itself was handled masterfully, building upon the first act, winding up tension and expectation, and releasing it at just the right time to give the maximum feeling of shock and awe. And the movie does this like 2-3 times, not just once, so you are pretty much sitting on the edge of your couch, shivering with thrill and tension during most of the second act. Seriously, when shit hits the fan, the movie is just non-stop adrenaline pumping thrill ride till the near end, and I LOVED IT! 

Of course, the enjoyment of the disaster scenes would have been nothing without the excellent technical aspects of the film. The CGI and special effects were all top notch. The sound design was precise and detailed with proper LFE (Bass) punches, and to top everything off, the soundtrack itself was fittingly chosen; calm and peaceful during quieter moments, and an absolutely unrelenting pump for excitement and tension when the movie is about to reach one of its climaxes. 

Regarding flaws, well, there were a couple of scenes during the disaster which felt out of place and had a heavy handed approach, felt like unnecessary embellishment for making it more of a movie, 'Hollywoodizing' if you will. That, and the first act being a bit too long are my only real complaints about this movie. 

Overall, an absolute ripper of a film when it comes disaster sequences, I was indeed very happy when the movie was over. It not only shows the scale of the disaster and how horrific it was but also entertains you to a great deal with its amazing disaster sequences. Definitely, a must watch. 

8/10

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baywatch (2017) - Movie Review

Baywatch is a movie based on the old TV series of the same name. It's about a bunch of lifeguards on a beach who try to uncover drug smuggling in their area...yeah, that is the plot. It's dumb, it's stupid, but I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't that bad. Don't get me wrong, it's not good, but it wasn't horrible either.  The movie actually had some fun in it. The Rock, as always, was charismatic, funny and likable; and Zac Efron, surprisingly, was similar to that. He got ripped AF for the movie. Alexandra Daddario was fun as well, although any movie gets bonus points for just including her in my book. Priyanka Chopra was in it as well, and between her in this and Deepika Padukone in XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, Priyanka definitely was the better one.  There were legit funny scenes sprinkled throughout, but there were also a shit ton of scenes that tried too hard to be hilarious but fell flat instead. Baywatch also had a large dosage...
Post a Comment
Read more

13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016) - Review

This movie is based on a true story about the attack on an american embassy and a secret CIA base in Benghazi, Libya, on the 9/11 anniversary in 2012. And how a few numbers of of Ex-Soldiers managed to repel the attack. Directed by Micheal Bay, I was surprised to see him holding back his Bay-ism and deliver a straight forward focused film. The story got a long build up at the start, setting up the location, the characters and the situation. And then chaos. What I liked most about this film was the fact that you felt just as lost as the soldiers and people in this movie. The confusion, the chaos, the uncertainty, it was delivered quite nicely, creating tension and thrill. There are a lot of characters in the movie, but ultimately it is focused on these soldiers, and while the movie could have done a better job developing them, what it did was good enough in a sense that it worked for the movie. I liked em. Acting varied, with some delivering pretty good performances. Also, again wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

John Wick 2 (2017) - Movie Review

John Wick 2 is a sequel to the 2014 surprise hit John Wick, and it follows him as he is forced to return to his former life once again. The trailers did a good job of not giving much away, so I'll keep it vague as well. The first one was great, so naturally, I was hyped for the sequel, and suffice to say it delivered where it mattered.  Keanu Reeves once again reprises the role of ultimate bad-ass assassin John Wick, with different character motivations this time around, resulting in a more subdued performance than last time, which nonetheless works for the story, and it's just great seeing Keanu again in style. There are some familiar faces from the previous film like Ian McShane (Winston) and Lance Reddick (Hotel Manager), giving similarly good performances. And new ones like Laurence Fishburn, resulting in a reunion of Neo and Morpheus, which should make any Matrix fan cheer up inside, and he gave a good performance as well. One of the things that stood out to ...
1 comment
Read more