98 minutes of fake-looking special effects and sheer dreck comprise "Poseidon," a 2006 movie hoping for people trying to get in out of the heat and into an air-conditioned theater.
It was commented by an observant viewer on the board for "San Francisco" that Hollywood has lost the art of the buildup, the point being that the big earthquake in "San Francisco" didn't occur until the last portion of the film. The film spent its time building up the characters and situations, all heading toward that fateful day. Ditto "In Old Chicago." Nowadays, when writers attempt to build a story, it's usually written in too slow a fashion. A great example of a film where this WASN'T the case was "Match Point," written by the brilliant Woody Allen - but you'll have to really look to find another film like that. Producers won't even consider a script that doesn't get to the point in the first 10 minutes.
In "Poseidon," Hollywood has reached a new low - and who knew it could sink any lower? We have stock characters given one or two lines to explain their characters. I'm not sure why any of them bothered. There was absolutely no way to care about them. Why not just start with the ship sinking? This was a movie about special effects, nothing more. Why pretend otherwise.
Some of the special effects were quite exciting on the big screen, so I gave it a 5. I can't comment on the performances. There weren't any. P.S. I was told - and I don't know if this is true - that if a ship the size of the Poseidon sinks, and you're anywhere near it on a lifeboat, the undertow drags you down with it. Not that anyone was going for accuracy here.
