Film Review: “Deepwater Horizon” is a Serious, Nail-Biting – Albeit Shallow Disaster Flick

By Editor September 30, 2016 10:00

By Anthony Hernandez

Deepwater Horizon is gripping and surprisingly serious, but we’ve kind of seen it before. Like Backdraft meets The Poseidon Adventure and Titanic, this disaster movie lacks the depth, character development and sweeping scope of much better films. Granted – the acting is top-notch, despite minimal meaningful interactions that are necessary to build real conflict. The visual effects are explosive and astonishingly real and visceral, despite a plot that behaves like every other well-polished action thriller. Can you see the problem here? The length and lack of real, emotional scope is what kept this movie – which is based on a true story of massive proportions – from doing more than just treading water.

You probably remember, on April 20, 2010, an explosion on the huge mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers, injured scores of others, produced a fireball that was seen 40 miles away and was the cause of the largest oil spill in U.S. history – and one of the worst environmental disasters ever. But this movie isn’t about that last part; it’s about those who worked on the derrick, those who died, and mostly – those who lived.

The depiction of the moments leading up to, and the actual disaster is extremely well crafted. The few fleeting moments of interaction between the characters is phenomenal – specifically scenes involving Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, and – for his seedy, worm-like portrayal of an uptight, greedy BP rep – John Malkovich. Each of these actors has their moment on screen – and they’re each, in their own way, emotionally powerful. But, the sum of these parts doesn’t lead us to a whole, and sincere emotional arc. Gina Rodriguez does a fantastic job (and is probably given the most to work with emotionally). And did I mention the waste of talent that is Kate Hudson?

All of that being said – Deepwater Horizon is a real nail-biter. The slow burn at the beginning really sets up the perfect ticking-clock situation. The tension rises and finally boils over with that catalytic moment that occurs in every disaster flick – “the bad thing”. And in this film, actual “bad thing” will rip right through you. The sounds, the visuals, and the deeply terrifying setting – topped of with lots, and lots of fire – really makes for a seat-squirming experience.

It’s all wrapped up in a nicely, but far too quickly. It’s really good, just not great. Instead of diving deeper, the film never leaves shallow water. I wish there was more, frankly. I wish – like the Poseidon Adventure – we spent more time with the characters before the disaster. I also wish we spent more time after the disaster away from the oil rig, and more on the real disaster that happened afterward. This is one of those few times that I can say an action film actually ran too short.