UNDERWATER (2020) Review
There are quite a few movies that are quite a bit like Underwater, at least in that they center on a group of humans who encounter otherworldly monsters while doing some shit they probably shouldn’t be doing. Like flying around in outer space, for example, which Ridley Scott turned into the most terrifying thing on the planet with Alien. And thanks to the template created by Alien and its James Cameron-directed sequel, most of those movies start off the same way: by allowing us to hang with the crew *before* the shit goes down.
But William Eubank’s Underwater is quite a bit different in that regard, as it completely does away with the “getting to know you” portion of the movie to the point that this creature feature is entirely without a first act. After a series of ominous newspaper clippings usher us into the world of Underwater on an ominous note, we meet Kristen Stewart’s Norah aboard a deep sea drilling station, a cynical engineer who’s clearly the film’s Ellen Ripley from the jump. Brushing her teeth and musing about her way of viewing the world in relatively awkward voice-over (more on that in a bit), Norah has no idea that *something* is about to attack the station and kill off the majority of the crew. And it happens within minutes of the movie’s start, plunging us directly into an intense nightmare right out of the gate.
Aside from T.J. Miller’s tension-breaking jokes that are initially amusing but soon wear thin — it’s the same shtick he employed in Cloverfield, though far less charming in the wake of recent real-life allegations — Underwater keeps up that intensity throughout its entire 95 minute runtime, stranding you down at the very bottom of the Mariana Trench with its characters and never letting you up for air. Those characters include Vincent Cassel’s “Captain” and a young couple played by John Gallagher, Jr. and Jessica Henwick, one hell of a strong cast for this big budget “B” movie. And while our limited-to-nonexistent time with the humans before the monsters attack ensures that we’re only ever able to form a mild bond with them, there’s something to be said for a movie that gets right to the “good stuff.”
Playing out like a survival horror video game, right down to a killer final battle that makes for one hell of a final act, Underwater is deep sea nightmare fuel, with barely-visible monsters of barely-this-world design lurking about and waiting to strike at any moment. Particularly once the movie forces the characters “outside” — and in this movie’s world, “outside” means quite literally placing them on the bottom of the sea floor — Underwater is effectively terrifying, with the underwater bits having an almost handheld, found footage-style feel to them. I’m the kind of monster lover who prefers to see as much of the monsters as possible, and while I personally could’ve used a bit more monster action in this one, even I can’t deny that there’s something bone chilling about brief glimpses of unnatural figures in the dark.
Another thing Underwater could’ve used, if I’m forced to nitpick a movie I really, really enjoyed, is a bit more visual clarity down in the murky depths; it’s not quite that you can’t see what’s happening, but more that you never get to see some really cool moments as clearly as you’d probably like to. It’s a problem, if we’re being honest, that most monster movies in recent years have had — Kong: Skull Island not included — but it’s kinda hard to complain when we’re talking about one that’s supposed to be taking place at the bottom of the sea. After all, it’s only natural that a movie set deep beneath our feet doesn’t feature bright lighting.
If you haven’t gathered by now, the gist of my review here is that the problems Underwater has don’t ever derail what is ultimately a really fun aquatic horror monster movie, and much of that has to be attributed to a cast that does a pretty good job of making you care about characters that the writing often doesn’t give you much reason to care for. Take the always watchable Kristen Stewart, for example, who’s forced to book-end the film with out of place voice-overs that were clearly only necessary because the movie’s structure never really allowed for any true character development. It’s only through these voice-overs that we’re really afforded a peek inside Norah’s mind, as if the movie itself understands that it did a poor job of investing you in its main character. But Stewart is such a strong screen presence that it almost doesn’t even matter; even without the voice-over at the end, in particular, we know exactly what she’s feeling and we understand precisely why she’s doing what she’s doing. The voice-over narration, ultimately, serves only to make a cool moment a bit corny.
And while it’s true that Underwater isn’t exactly an A+ film in the character department, the characters that actually matter in the end — and it’s admittedly a bit of a bummer which one ends up mattering the least — do get enough development that I did find myself feeling *something* when all was said and done; if only for Stewart’s character, who at least experiences something of an arc from the beginning to the end. Again, that’s probably a bit more of a testament to Kristen Stewart’s talents than it even is to the film’s writing.
Armed with a great score from Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts, along with impressive set and suit constructions that will make you understand why, more than anything else present on screen, the movie cost $60 million — not to mention, and I’m going to mention it once again, A REALLY COOL FINAL ACT — Underwater comes out smelling like a rose in the aquatic horror, Aliens-inspired arena that I love so much. It’s completely satisfying in the end, with a final reveal that takes a cool monster movie and turns it into one that horror fans — and fans of [redacted], in particular — are sure to theorize and gush about for many years to come.
And no, the “redacted” in that sentence is not “Cloverfield,” but it could be and I can’t wrap up this review without also mentioning that Underwater is the totally unofficial Cloverfield prequel that mega-fans of the Cloverfield ARG (myself included) have been waiting for. It’s not even a “Clover-Verse” movie and yet it feels more like a Cloverfield movie than the two actual Cloverfield movies that were released in the wake of the 2008 found footage film.
And in my book, that gives this one at least 1/2 of an extra star on Letterboxd.
