It’s the promise of thrilling action sequences that take place at the bottom of the ocean that drew me to Underwater; an action/thriller about a group of researchers trying to survive after an earthquake devastates their subterranean laboratory.

The good news is that I got the well-executed and thrilling scrambling to safety scenes I’d hoped for. The bad news is that besides the initial scrambling and the face-to-face encounter with the monster towards the end, there isn’t much else about director William Eubank’s film that I found particularly impressive.

Starring Kristen Stewart, T.J. Miller and Vincent Cassel; the elements that proved most disappointing include the design of the underwater monster, which, for me, seemed relatively basic and not particularly new. Furthermore, overall, the special effects could have been better. And unfortunately, some of the acting is questionable.

I know that Underwater is a thriller and not a traditional horror movie. Yet, I expected the monster to be scarier than it is. Or, at the very least, for the encounters with the monster to be more terrifying than they are. It certainly didn’t help that we barely see anything, each time the camera is pointed at the monster.

Much of the dialogue felt quite flat, which in part led to the moments that should have been more affecting, i.e. the death of key characters proved rather underwhelming.

Watch Underwater, but only if you absolutely must.

Happy Film Loving,

G