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Ever wondered what would happen if you dropped the main character from "Gravity" into the world of "The Abyss" where she encounters creatures with the dynamic of those from "Deep Rising" only following the more serious template of "Alien"? Well then, "Underwater" is the movie for you. The sad news is that it doesn't reach any of the heights of the movies it so liberally cribs from, the good news is that it's still a fine enough b-movie thriller.
Let's be honest, the moment Stewart was cast the chips were stacked against this movie in the eyes of the general audience. She's not particularly made a positive impression on moviegoers despite some more serious, and less seen, roles proving she has at least some talent to work with. However, once the very obvious influences this movie culls its material from became clear the pushback was overwhelming. People, for the most part, dismissed it and it came and went at theaters like a brief blip on the radar. I'm not one to quickly dismiss homage (or even outright thievery) when it comes to art, however, and I made a mental note to eventually make up my own mind about "Underwater".
That time has come and gone and the results are in, as they say. My conclusion? "Underwater" is a relatively inoffensive b-movie knockoff of far better films but far from the disaster that everyone swore it would be. Any seasoned cinephile knows that knock-offs and cash-ins are par the course when a movie makes a ton of money. hell, all the aforementioned movies had a series of other knock-offs already. Any reasonable cinephile will also admit that they have partaken and enjoyed a variety of knock-off movies despite how they pale in comparison to the film they're so blatantly ripping off. As it stands "Underwater" is a film that will possibly garner a small cult following given its strengths and its simple structure. Give it some time and you'll see.
Stewart plays Norah, a cynical and nearly hopeless mechanical engineer working in a deep sea drilling rig that has begun to drill near the Mariana Trench. After an unexpected tremor leads to the partial implosion of the station, she and her remaining crew must make it across dangerous territory to find the final escape pods...but they may not be alone in the mysterious depths. And that's your plot, straight to the point and barebones and, you know, sometimes that's okay.
In a brave (some would say foolish) move the filmmaker's chose to place the brunt of the character work on Stewart's character. Stewart has never been the most expressive of actresses, sometimes she's downright horrible because of this (Twilight, Snow White and the Huntsman) and sometimes she can crack out something good despite her shortcomings (Clouds of Sils Maria, Still Alice). Here they leaned into her characteristic detachment and made it part of the main character's state of being. Norah, like Sandra Bullock's character in "Gravity", is a woman who has lost her way and purpose in life after losing an important person but circumstances force her into action and soon her arc leads her to find said purpose. The biggest shocker is that Steward does a fine job in portraying this character and making her the anchor to the other ones. It's not overt and refined and much of the supporting cast are set dressing to interact with her and affect her character arc but in a quick moving thrill-ride of a movie we don't need a deep dive into everybody else.
Indeed the film runs at a steady clip, the chaos erupting not long after a brief "essentials-only" intro and the path toward safety being charted as we go. This services the film in the sense that it leaves us little time to linger on character work that would otherwise be important in a more steadily paced flick. It also keeps the momentum....until it doesn't. If there is one outstanding weakness in this movie is that somewhere toward the middle it loses a bit of it's steam by either taking too much time to breath or just bombarding us with moment after moment of this run. Add to this the somewhat viewer unfriendly murkiness of the location and the frenetic film-style and as a viewer you might find yourself losing a bit of interest. That being said, the ship does right itself in time to usher in its conclusion which is actually pretty neat. Again, nothing new if you've been around the block but neat nevertheless.
"Underwater" breaks no new ground, instead it chooses to blatantly pick and choose from a variety of superior flicks but it is also just a popcorn chewing fun time if you stop tightening your asshole like a prude. For fans of the Lovecraftian there is a visual nod in this that, like the rest of the film, is superficial but fun. I give "Underwater" a positive 5.5/10
