Underwater: Is Everything Better Down Where It's Wetter?

Before I start this review, I just want to start with some backstory.  This movie wrapped filming in 2017 and is just now being released.  Recently Disney bought 20th Century Fox the distributor for this film and, from what I've read, that's partially the reason why it's being released so late.  It seems like Disney purposely tried to bury (drown) this movie because it isn't related to one of their famous IPs like Marvel or Star Wars.  If this is true then, what the hell Disney?  Right now this movie is currently bombing at the box office and it's no doubt because of the decision to release it in January, the month where movies go to die.  This is a real shame because Underwater is a pretty decent movie.

Underwater is directed by William Eubank and stars Kristen Stewart, Jessica Henwick, Vincent Caswell, and T.J. Miller.  When an earthquake destroys underwater lab, a group of researchers must battle the elements to escape.  There's more than just the ocean for the crew to worry about, though.  With all of that out of the way, let's dive into the review!

Underwater really surprised me.  When I first watched the trailer, I didn't have any desire to see it.  As time went on, I got a little more interested.  I'm pretty glad I got to see it because it's pretty good.  The cast (for the most part) does a great job.  I know it's become a joke to bag on Kristen Stewart because she was in Twilight, but I'm willing to forget that.  After all, it doesn't seem like anyone wanted to be in those movies.  From what I hear, she's also very good in the recent indie films she's been it.  After watching this movie, I really hope she's in more big-budget films because she does a really good job in this.  Her character is named Nora and she works on the rig.  What I really liked about the character is that she's not perfect.  She's afraid of the situation and she shows it.  I read an article that Stewart was terrified of being underwater, so the director used that fear in the movie.  I think it worked very well.  The entire cast does a good job, for the most part.  One standout was Jessica Henwick, who plays Emily, a biologist.  I was a little worried with her character because, in the beginning, she's freaking out a lot and I was afraid she would be really annoying.  She wasn't and she's one of my favorite parts of the movie.  While she does freak out, it's not over-the-top and annoying like it would be in other horror films.  It's pretty realistic.  Underwater also moves pretty quickly.  The action starts pretty much right at the beginning and from then on, it moves at a fast pace.  I think the length was perfect because there's only so much one can do in this setting without getting too bored.  This movie is also quite scary at parts, more so than It Chapter 2.  I think that comes down to Eubank's direction.  The film is very claustrophobic and many of the scenes are close-up.  It felt a lot like Alien.  Even though there are quite a bit of jump scares, Eubank does a great job of building tension (with the exception of one scene).  I also really liked the set design.  All of the equipment felt gritty and lived-in.  None of the tech is polished and shiny.  The movie uses quite a bit of practical effects, mostly with the underwater suits the crew has to wear.  They are really cool to look at and, from what I read, the actors had a bit of trouble walking around in them, which shows on-screen in a good way.  It adds a sense of urgency to the movie.  Another thing that stuck out to me was the score by Marco Beltrami and Brandon Roberts.  It's dark and eerie, like the movie itself.  It adds to the atmosphere.  The visual effects were well done also.  This movie looks like it could actually happen.  The cinematography (done by Bojan Bazelli) is beautiful (for the most part).  It's a very well-shot movie.  One final thing that I really dug was the creature design.  The creatures are very cool and creepy.  There's one scene that involves one of them which is pretty unsettling to watch.  The only issue is that it's hard to see them at times, which leads to the negatives.

I get it, this movie is supposed to be dark since it's at the bottom of the ocean.  For me, this kinda sucks because I really wanted to get a good look at one of the creatures (one type I was able to see pretty clearly).  Even when the scene brightens, I had a hard time seeing the beast, which stinks because I love a good monster design.  From what I could tell, it looked pretty cool.  I mentioned earlier that most of the cast does a pretty good job in the movie.  The one that really took me out of it was T.J. Miller.  I think this was filmed before we found out he was an ass in real life so I don't really blame the filmmakers for this.  His character, Paul, just annoyed me.  He's supposed to be the comic relief of the film but whenever he cracked a joke, it just took me out of it.  A few jokes landed, but not many.  I had the same problem with him in Deadpool 2.  It felt like he was just improvising and the director didn't want to stop him.  I also mentioned earlier that Eubank does a pretty good job building tension with the exception of one scene.  I won't spoil it, but there's one sequence where he's just building up the jump scare for too long.  My friend and I kept bracing in our seat, but nothing would happen.  It felt like Eubank was toying with the audience.  Luckily, that's the only scene where that really happens.  Earlier I talked about how this movie was kind of like Alien.  That's a good and bad thing.  Some parts of the film seem to pay homage to the classic, while others are sort of just copy and pasted.  The premises are pretty similar: both have crews isolated from society and they have to deal with a creature.  This isn't too much of an issue, but it felt like something worth noting.

Underwater really surprised me.  It's a shame that Disney might've tried to bury this movie because it's pretty good.  The cast, particularly Stewart and Henwick, do a pretty good job, it moves at a fast pace, Eubank does a great job building tension, it's pretty scary at some parts, and I really liked the score, cinematography, visuals, and set design.  It also helps that the creatures look cool.  Sadly this movie is held back by some lighting choices, T.J. Miller taking me out of the film, and one scene that builds tension for way too long.  If I were to rate it, I'd give Underwater a 7.5-8/10.  I wish that more people would go and see this because it's really well-done and it's nice to see a good monster movie!