Number Rolled: 43
Movie Name/Year: Submerged
(2015)
Tagline: You can’t
scream and hold your breath at the same time.
Genre: Thriller
Length: 98
minutes
Rating: NR
Production Companies:
Twisted Pictures
Producer: R.
Andru, Kim Bailey, Robert Ogden Barnum, William Clevinger, Cassian Elwes,
Cynthia Guidry, Lainie Guidry, Duane Journey, Crad Kaplan, Tiffany Kuzon, Scott
Milam, Todd Williams
Director: Steven
C. Miller
Writer: Scott
Milam
Actors: Jonathan
Bennett, Talulah Riley, Rosa Salazar, Samuel Hunt, Cody Christian, Giles
Matthey, Denzel Whitaker, Willa Ford, Mario Van Peebles, Tim Daly, Sam Daly,
Mario Perez, CJ Stuart, Jesse Cheever, Brian Tyler Cohen, Erica Souza
Blurb from Netflix:
When the kidnapping of a controversial corporate figure’s daughter goes awry,
her limo careens off a bridge, leaving the survivors trapped underwater.
Selina’s Point of View:
Nothing about this movie impressed me. In fact, it barely
kept my attention at all.
To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this film. It’s
difficult to make a story like this entertaining – even with flashbacks and
twists. It’s possible, just difficult. So whenever we roll a movie with this
kind of setting, I’m always skeptical.
Granted, Submerged
had a lot more action than I originally expected, and the choreography of the
fighting was well done. The actor that played the main character, Jonathan
Bennett (Do You Take this Man, Paid in
Full, Mining for Ruby), handled his physical scenes really well. In looks,
he kind of reminded me of John Barrowman (Arrow,
Torchwood, Zero Dark Thirty) at times.
I can’t wait to see Bennett in a good movie.
Aside from the surprising action, the rest of it was
incredibly flat and not entertaining at all. The dialog was ridiculous and
there was a twist at the end that made no logical sense at all; the plot hole
it opened was the size of Jupiter. Millions of people could live on that plot
hole and never run into each other. In fact, even if I liked the rest of the
film, that ending would have killed it for me.
Twists in films are usually great. The sudden change shocks
the viewer and ties the whole story together, when it’s done right. The problem
is, you can’t just include a twist in order to include a twist. It’s gotta have
a purpose and it’s gotta fit. If the creators of this film had cut about ten minutes
earlier and left it open-ended, it would have been a better film.
That’s saying something, because I don’t like open-endings.
I much prefer closure.
I won’t be watching Submerged
again.
Cat’s Point of View:
This particular result threw me a curve ball. I don’t have a
lot of fears that trigger physical reactions. Of course, at the top would be
something happening to my child. Aside from that, #1 is of tornadoes. Hard on
the heels of that is a fear of a vehicular accident on a bridge resulting in
submerging in water.
Bridges make me nervous – we’re not talking about the little
ones that are no better than overpasses that go over creeks and such. We’re
talking about big ones. The Lake Charles Bridge in South Louisiana freaks me
out – it’s a really tall arch. The Lake Pontchartrain and Atchafalaya Swamp
Basin bridges are both insanely long and give me the heebie jeebies. This is
why I always have a glass-break/seat-belt-cutter in any vehicle I drive.
Last spring, the alternator in my SUV died while going up
the incline of a bridge…in the rain. I nearly lost my mind. We weren’t even
over the water there. Worries of the vehicle getting skewered on trees or going
upside down on the big rocks below weren’t much better. My husband was my hero
and kept us from getting hit until a police officer and a tow arrived.
Needless to say, the theme of this particular movie was
rather problematic. I pushed through, though, and tried not to let my visceral
reaction color my interpretation of the film.
I wasn’t able to revisit the movie and write my review right
away, though – I had to give it a few hours for my pulse to calm down and for
the nervous energy that lingered afterwards to fade away.
On to the show
I enjoyed the framework for this movie. You start out having
absolutely no idea how things have happened, and as things progress you begin
to see the story unfold. The structure they chose actually helped me cope with
this particular trigger factor more effectively.
The film addresses the different ways that people respond to
a crisis rather well. I can’t think of a single negative critique for any of
the primary cast members. For a little
bit I thought that Jonathan Bennett (Music
High, The Secret Village, Awkward) was stiff; but then I realized that it
was part of his character. He has an excellent ‘thousand-yard-stare’ and the
rest was a rather realistic reaction to the particular situation he found
himself in.
I was surprised to find Mario Van Peebles (Damages, Tied to a Chair, Red Sky) in
this movie. I haven’t seen his more recent works, but he’ll always be my Sonny Spoon (1988).
I will not be watching this movie ever again – but that’s
only because of my own issues and not the film, itself. I would recommend it
for anyone without a phobia that enjoys a good thriller.
Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 29%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 16%
Netflix’s Prediction for Selina – 2/5
Selina’s Trust-the-Dice Score – 1.5/5
Netflix’s Prediction for Cat – 3/5
Cat’s Trust-the-Dice Score
– 3.5/5
The Random Rating:
R
Movie Trailer: This trailer is the exact kind of trailer that exists to remind you not to watch one before the movie. THIS TRAILER CONTAINS SPOILERS. WATCH AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION.
