Deep Blue Sea

What happens when the ultimate underwater predator gets faster and smarter?

	Deep Blue Sea
	Rated R
	Starring Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, L.L. Cool J, Stellan Skarsgard, Samuel L. Jackson
	Written by Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, Wayne Powers
	Directed by Renny Harlin
	120 Minutes

Review by Melissa J. Perenson

hat happens when scientists play God? Researchers working aboard Aquatica, a floating laboratory, are about to find out. Dr. Susan McAlester (Burrows) has focused her life's research on studying the brain tissue of sharks to see if the tissue might be used to counteract the affects of Alzheimer's disease. However, the twin pressures of finding funding and achieving glory prompt McAlester to hasten her studies into the regeneration of the human brain. Violating ethical codes, McAlester enlists the aid of one of the facility's resident shark experts to genetically re-engineer the DNA of the sharks in order to increase their brain mass. The unanticipated result: the sharks get smarter and faster.

Just as McAlester celebrates her remarkable breakthrough, the sharks bite back--literally--and exact revenge on those who deigned to make them the subjects of experimentation. Using their bulk and inherently ferocious--and now enhanced--nature to their advantage, the sharks damage the facility beyond repair, forcing crew members to struggle for their lives, even as a tropical storm isolates the station from the rest of the world. Worse still, there is only a skeleton staff on the Aquatica because it's the weekend shift. The able bodies include McAlester, shark expert Carter Blake (Jane), cook Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (L.L. Cool J), and financier Russell Franklin (Jackson), who's on hand to watch the first round of tests.

As the crew battles for survival, they also end up battling one another--particularly once the truth comes out about McAlester's underhanded methods. Franklin, considered by many to be a living legend for having survived an avalanche, tries his best to maintain leadership, but there's only so much even he can do as, one by one, the sharks prove they're more attuned to their human prey than anyone ever considered.

These sharks lack bite

The calm of the open ocean is deceptive and not long-lived in Deep Blue Sea, either for Aquatica's resident team of researchers or for moviegoers. The serene introduction is soon shattered by the genetically engineered sharks as the film devolves into a loud thrill-fest in which it's every human for him- or her-self. The focus of the movie is not really about survival but about who's going to become the next main course, and while the sharks are menacing, they're also predictable. A dubious point in Deep Blue Sea's favor is that it's packed with a graphic goriness that will surprise even the most jaded viewer.

The film also offers a new twist on the basic concept of Jaws, if for no other reason than the use of visual effects that allow viewers to actually see events from a shark's perspective both above and below the water. Shark films are usually stymied by the fact that technology limits the agility of their ocean predators. At least the effects of Deep Blue Sea--which seamlessly combine real sharks with animatronic and computer-generated models--are certainly convincing.

Unfortunately, nothing else about the film is convincing. The story is so focused on action that most of the characters ring hollow and unsympathetic, especially McAlester, a character who elicited some heated feedback from audiences during an early screening of the film. Though led by an ensemble cast that includes film veteran Jackson and the little-known actors (but art-house staples) Burrows and Jane, the characters are two-dimensional and not developed enough for anyone to really care much when the sharks get them. The only exception is Dudley, a character with just enough three-dimensional resonance to make an impression on audiences. Adeptly played by rapper-turned-thespian L.L. Cool J, Dudley has the right balance of humanity and humor. But even he can't carry the film on his own.

All the more insulting is the fact that the movie ends on a light note, which makes it seem as if the carnage and destruction were nothing more than a lark. It's clear that not even the filmmakers can take this one seriously.

Deep Blue Sea will certainly provide thrill-seekers with a movie experience that's guaranteed to shock and surprise. Those looking for something a little deeper and more meaningful than a watery action flick will be disappointed. -- Melissa

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The Haunting

Desperate people fight to stay alive in a house that fights back

	The Haunting
	Rated PG-13
	Starring Liam Neeson, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Lili Taylor, Owen Wilson
	Written by David Self
	Directed by Jan de Bont
	112 Minutes

Review by Tamara I. Hladik

sychological researcher Dr. Jeffrey Marrow (Neeson) is examining the nature of fear. His subjects are a trio of suggestible insomniacs who have signed up for a unique experiment. To ensure complete privacy and isolation, the study is held in a remote, fantastic and ominous mansion, situated in the rustic countryside. And Marrow only tells his lab rats that they are participating in a simple sleep experiment.

The group gathers together during their first night in the house and, in the warm, half-drowsy comfort of brandies and a banked fire, Marrow tells them a little of the house's history. Once owned by a turn-of-the-century industrialist, it has stood empty for almost a century. All of his children, and his wife, died terribly, terribly young.

The tale is not just colorful local history. Marrow purposefully plants this dark seed in the imaginations of his subjects, hoping it will blossom into classic fear. The atmosphere turns even more foreboding when a bloody mishap forces two of the researchers to rush to town for medical attention, taking Marrow's cell phone--and only means of communication--with them. As the car rumbles away, the gates are chained and locked behind it. The group is now essentially cut off from the modern world.

They are now four--Marrow; the bisexual, vampish artist Theo (Zeta-Jones); cool, self-assured Luke (Wilson); and mousy, eccentric Nell (Taylor). Though the accident was upsetting, the subjects settle down for the night amid the forbidding beauty of the immense mansion.

And the fear begins to bloom.

Noises, drafts and voices manifest softly, slowly at first. Seemingly explainable. The group rationalizes everything. But soon events become so dramatic that the they begin to wonder what is real. Nell is affected the most, feeling a special connection to the mysteries of the house. But the others begin to wonder if she's becoming unbalanced, if perhaps she is the one behind all the strangeness...

Something's horrifying all right...

The Haunting, based on the novel The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, is so horrible on so many levels it's hard to know what to pick at first. It starts off under a handicap--it is the modern remake of an old thriller of the same name that delivered honest chills. But it starts off promisingly enough--a good cast and a fat budget. Ironically, though, the film's financial backing works against it. Instead of plumbing the abyssal depths of fear with tension, lighting, plot or drama, The Haunting always reaches into a modern bag of computer-generated tricks.

Additionally, the writer and director compete wildly and incessantly for the claim of "most incompetent nabob." Does de Bont's directing sabotage an adequate script, or does the script disembowel a passable scarefest? These two drivers are architects of their own wreckage. The plot careens regularly from sensible construction and goes completely out of control near the end, pushed forward only by a "what cool thing can we cram in there next?" attitude. The script is a dead road that the actors must wander in search of meaning.

The production does have a few things going for it. There are a couple of moments of actual scariness, the actors experience a few bunches of seconds in which the film actually grooves, and some of the computer-generated scares are used to good effect. Probably the best thing about this film is the set design. The house is fantastically horrible and wretchedly beautiful in the way that only evil can be.

But the film itself is a lost soul. Nothing saves it and no one even seems to try. Opportunities are frittered away in favor of sensationalism and gimmickry, and the closer the climax is, the more incoherent the production becomes. Sadly, no one wants to make scary movies anymore, they just want to make action-horror flicks.

I wasn't expecting much, just basic competence, so I feel sorely tried. However, as perverse as this may sound, I'd see it again (if I didn't have to pay for it) just to see the sets. -- Tamara

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Inspector Gadget

Does this Gadget go go?

	Inspector Gadget
	Rated PG
	Starring Matthew Broderick, Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher
	Written by Kerry Ehrin, Zak Penn
	Directed by David Kellogg
	80 Minutes

Review by Kathie Huddleston

aive security guard John Brown (Broderick) dreams of being a heroic police officer who not only saves the day but gets the girl. In this case the girl is Brenda Bradford (Fisher), a beautiful scientist who barely notices that John is alive. Despite his failure to get accepted into the police academy, John is determined to become the best security guard he can in the hope that someday he'll become a police officer.

Meanwhile, Brenda and her father Artemus Bradford (Rene Auberjonois) are working on perfecting a robotic foot. Just after they achieve success, the villainous Sanford Scolex (Everett) sends in an armored van full of criminally programmed robots who kill Artemus and steal the foot. John leaps into action (and into his Chevette), taking up the chase to find the culprit who set this evil deed into action. However, Scolex refuses to be caught so easily, and he blows up John and his Chevette (though Scolex loses his hand in the process).

John wakes up to discover that, in order to save his life, Brenda has made him into the first-ever bionic police officer. Besides having incredible strength and speed, he is also fully accessorized. To make his new abilities work, all he has to do is say "Go, Go, Gadget" with the name of the gadget he wants to use. He also gets a special outfit and a cool talking car, the Gadgetmobile, to help him with his new assignment as Inspector Gadget, a human crime-fighting machine. As John would say, "Wowser!"

With the loss of his hand, Scolex has become Claw. Realizing that Inspector Gadget might become a problem, Claw creates RoboGadget (Broderick again), an evil duplicate of Inspector Gadget. As Claw and RoboGadget set about their nefarious plans to destroy Riverton City, Inspector Gadget must figure out how all his new gadgets work, save the day and get the girl.

A real Wowser...for kids only

Inspector Gadget is a children's romp full of goofiness and, of course, silly gadgets. While younger kids will enjoy the variety of tricks Inspector Gadget literally has under his hat, adults won't. At least, they won't for long. Thankfully the movie is only 80 minutes long.

Based on a popular cartoon character from the 1980s, Inspector Gadget comes to the big screen with the same kind of bouncy energy that drove the Disney hit Flubber. Just when it might get boring for the kids, along comes another gadget or a bit of slapstick (which kids seem to enjoy as much as the gadgets). This is all driven flawlessly by special effects from the Stan Winston Studio.

As for the script and plot...who cares? There's a bad guy, a good guy, a pretty lady, a bad guy pretending to be a good guy, lots of gadgets, a smart little girl (John's niece) and a hip, talking car. For good measure, the filmmakers threw in some takeoffs of movies such as Godzilla and Mission: Impossible.

The cast is led ably by Broderick as the innocent and dedicated Inspector Gadget. Everett is over the top as any good villain in a cartoon-like movie should be. Fisher and the rest of the cast get the job done. Look for cameos during the ending credits of Richard Kiel (Jaws) and Mr. T during a The Minion Recovery Group meeting.

While adults won't find much to love about Inspector Gadget, the little ones will have fun. And with as few films as there are out there for young kids, this is a good addition to the summer roster.