Poseidon: Either Gouge Your Eyes Out with a Trident, or See This Movie. Either Way, You'll Get the Same Satisfaction

The 1970s were the beginnings of the blockbuster. Most people think Steven Spielberg's "Jaws," (1975) and George Lucas's "Star Wars" (1977) birthed what movie going audiences have come to know as "the popcorn movie," however, that's not quite the case.

Although, Spielberg and Lucas are without a doubt the best at the art of blockbuster building, the "event" movie really has its roots in the old disaster flicks of the 70s - "Towering Inferno (1974), "Airport," (1970), "Earthquake" (1974), and "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972), just to name a few. Wolfgang Peterson's "Poseidon" simply doesn't work today, though. In a post 9/11 world, the real "disasters" aren't event driven, or out of the control of man. Quite the contrary - they're manmade.

The film follows all the old clichés of it's predecessors - a large cast, multiple storylines, and a whole lot of extras and minor characters that die as the central players always seem to avoid death at the last minute. Simply put, it does nothing new.

"Poseidon" would have worked in the 1990s when the disaster film had it's CGI rebirth, and movies like "Twister," (1996) "Volcano," (1997) "Independence Day," (1996) and "Dante's Peak" (1997) were flooding into the box office. Today, however, "Poseidon" just seems out of place.

After walking out of the film, you won't be left with any special moments. Conversations with co-workers or friends about an awesome action sequence where a T-Rex bites the head off a lawyer on the toilet, or where a mother ship destroys the Whitehouse won't happen. Every popcorn movie needs at least one memorable action or effects moment, and "Poseidon" has none. We've seen them all before, and worse yet, we've seen them done better in other movies.

Grade - F-

Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Written by: Mark Protosevich
Based on the novel by: Paul Gallico