5 of 10
Cinematography by Mikael Salomon
Ed Harris
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Michael Biehn
Leo Burmester
Todd Graff
John Bedford Lloyd
J.C. Quinn
Kimberly Scott
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| The Abyss 5 of 10 |
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| Directed by James Cameron Cinematography by Mikael Salomon Ed Harris Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio Michael Biehn Leo Burmester Todd Graff John Bedford Lloyd J.C. Quinn Kimberly Scott |
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| I have very mixed reactions about this movie. First time I saw it, I thought it was decent. Second time I watched it, I absolutely loved it until the last 20 minutes, and then I hated it. So it ends up being very middle-of-the-road for me. Not because it is a moderately good film, but because the two extremes make it end up somewhere in the middle. Visually, it is a truly extraordinary movie, with a dark, almost Blade Runner-like feel to it, only underwater. As for the acting, Harris is great, and the rest of the cast give really solid performances. But the effects steal the show in this one; they are truly magical. ILM should be proud. (And they are, I'm sure. Humility has never been the strongpoint of the visual effects crowd.) But more importantly, the story provides a great vehicle for the effects. You don't feel that they are thrown in, or that they overpower the story. They are just a gorgeous backdrop to the events themselves. And that is true for over two hours of the film. But then, a real problem arises. Like so many directors, Cameron feels that it is impermissible to tell a story without weighing it down with as much Hollywood political mumbo-jumbo as possible. So, just before the most poignant moment of the film, the real climax of the story...he deems it necessary to provide a 5-minute lecture to the world (and to his viewers) on the evils of hatred and of war. This brings the story to a screeching halt, and leaves the audience floundering around for any of the emotions necessary to feel guilty for what they have just been shown. Or, for the more rational, to search for the link that Cameron apparently sees between them and the evils of the world. I hate being preached to, or at, and this film has that effect on me. Too bad Cameron had to inject his fine film with a lot of pretentious, didactic anti-violence indoctrination at the very end. That really ruins the magic he had going. | ||||||