"Poseidon"

So, I now feel that the first true Summer Blockbuster is here.
"Poseidon" is everything that it is supposed to be.
Man vs. Nature.
"Titanic" meets "Armageddon".
I'm a fan of Kurt Russell. I'm a fan of Josh Lucas. And I enjoyed both of them in this flick.

One of my "All-Time Hotties" is also in this flick:
Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson of the Black Eyed Peas. She doesn't get a lot of screen time, but she's still nice to look at. And I just discovered something BEYOND AWESOME: Fergie has a Peanuts connection, she did the voice of Sally Brown in "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown" and "Snoppy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown", how cool is that? She was also on a TV show I watched as a kid, called "Kids, Inc." it was a short lived Disney series that I was secretly obsessed with. The show also featured Mario Lopez and Jennifer Love Hewitt.

So, anyways, back to the flick.
It follows the same formula that has worked for successful blockbusters. It has drama and suspense, it has romance and it has people overcoming obstacles to reach victory. It's a fast paced movie, and only comes in a little over 1:45. It doesn't burden itself with a long first act, it quickly gets into the real story, while taking what feels like just the right amount of time to develop the characters, before throwing them into the drama of the situation. There's not too many cheesey lines, and while there are some confusing moments (where they obviously cut some connecting story elements) it moved pretty well. At times things got confusing when they would be talking about going "down" when theoretically they meant "up" because the ship is upside down (sorry if I spoiled that for anyone, but if didn't know that happened, you either haven't seen the trailer, or the original).

Wolfgang Peterson has proven he knows ships.
He directed "Das Boot", "The Perfect Storm" and now "Poseidon". There is a good amount of beautiful cinematography, and the camera moves through the ship is some unique and interesting ways. While the beautiful opening sequence is obviously a large part CGI, it still looks good and blends well with the "real life" events that were filmed.

Is "Poseidon" going to redefine cinema? Nope.
Is "Poseidon" an evolutionary leap in CGI? Nope.
Is "Poseidon" enjoyable? For sure.

So enjoyable, that I'm going to do my best to catch it at the IMAX sometime, and actually pay for a ticket (If the Indy IMAX ever gets this film, according to their website, it's not booked...) According to the Kerasotes Website, they might be playing it in Digital. If that's the case, perhaps I'll pay to see that, since the Indy IMAX is so "odd". Or perhaps I'll make a road trip up to the Windy City, if they're playing it IMAX. I'll have to look into that sometime.

If you're looking for fun, and just a plain old good time without thinking too hard about characters, motivation, and HOW THAT KID GOT IN THERE???, then this isn't a bad way to spend two hours. There's some good tension that had me squirming in my seat (my distaste for height may have a played a part in that too...) and it's enjoyable.

Next week is "The Da Vinci Code", which I'll probably get into one of the early screenings of next week. I'm looking forward to it, based solely on the previews and no knowledge of the book.