Subject: REVIEW: WATERWORLD

From: [email-masked] (Michael J. Legeros)
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 15:41:16 GMT

WATERWORLD
		       A film review by Michael John Legeros
			Copyright 1995 Michael John Legeros
(Universal)

Directed by    Kevin Reynolds
Written by     Peter Rader and David Twohy
Cast           Kevin Costner, Dennis Hopper, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina
               Majorino
MPAA Rating    "PG-13"
Running Time   135 minutes
Reviewed at    General Cinemas at Pleasant Valley, Raleigh (26JUL95)

==

"Setback."
    - Dennis Hopper

     DIE HARD, BRAVEHEART, Batman, Spaceman.  Welcome to the Summer of
Acceptance, where even the *best* of the big-gun blockbusters must be
accepted on their own, flawed, faulted terms.  Overlong, overdone, or
overhyped, the ticket sales are the testimony to one simple fact: we're
*willing* to accept the flawed (but still spectacular) visions of
filmmakers like John McTiernan, Joel Schumacher, and, now, Kevin
Reynolds.  (Of course, we also embraced CONGO.  Go figure.)

     WATERWORLD floats, though not very high above the surface.  The
joys of the Most Expensive Movie Ever Made ($175M) include a breezy
tone, good humor, and *dynamite* action.  Director Kevin Reynolds
(ROBIN HOOD: PRINCE OF THIEVES) has clearly beaten his playmates at
the punch bowl.  Sure, it's THE ROAD WARRIOR on water, but the
stunt-heavy set-pieces are more open and relaxed than anything we've
seen in DIE HARD or BATMAN.

     The first hour is the best, successfully suspending our disbelief
that a world covered with water would still support human life.  (And,
for that matter, would still support so many late-20th century relics!)
Into that picture drifts the Mariner (Kevin Costner), a wandering
mutant with slimy webbed-feet and gills that look like little vaginas.
He's at odds with everyone, including the Atollers (who live in harmony
on a man-made atoll) and the Smokers (who like to smoke and kill and
not necessarily in that order).  The Mariner just wants to be left
alone with his ecology lesson, but that proves difficult after he
befriends a little girl (Tina Majorino) with a strange tattoo.

     WATERWORLD starts to sink in the second hour, as the film begins
to feel less and less "finished."  The logic problems are the worse,
ranging from a casual deep-sea dive that offers no mention of
decompression--much less the dangers of tangled support cables!--to
the return of a patchwork airship that looks better suited to
GILLIGAN'S ISLAND than THE ROWED WARRIOR.  Skipper!!  The second hour
also marks the deterioration of the FX, particularly in the matte
department.

     Another albatross is the story, which is thin even by summer-movie
standards.  The plot is essentially an extended chase sequence with a
dash of characterization for Costner.  Numerous dead-end references
don't help, either, and suggest a number of cut scenes.  Hopper calls
for "the trackers," but we're only shown some shark fins in passing.
Tripplehorn talks about a "music box" as something "nobody else has
seen," but when did *she* see it?  And the list goes on.

     (The sexism doesn't make much sense, either.  Why not paint the
future as a place where the sexes are equal, and where the Mariner not
only thinks about selling his woman, but also himself??)

     Despite a production history more difficult than a James Cameron
shoot, the acting in WATERWORLD in surprisingly strong. Costner is
amazing as the brutish, brooding hero who is more prone to throwing
little girls overboard than to waxing wisecracks while killing. For
someone who has never been licensed as an action figure, he's also
*very* nimble on his feet.

     The villain, the Deacon, the bald-headed leader of the Smokers, is
played with customary gusto by Dennis Hopper.  (He's here because of a
new industry rule that requires the actor to play the villain in at
least *one* summer blockbuster a year.  His characterization for *this*
role: Southern accent.)  He gets upstaged, though, by young star Tina
Majorino (WHEN A MAN LOVES A WOMAN).  She's plays the little girl with
the map on her back, and she's a scene-stealer.

     (Only Jeanne Tripplehorn--as the love interest--doesn't fit.  With
her shaved armpits and shiny hair, she's too clean-looking.  The
actress has spunk, sure, but she acts like she walked (trippled?) in
from another movie, entirely.  She's awful.)

     The other technical credits are a mixed catch.  The production
design is a winner, with the Mariner's trimaran as the coolest
contraption next to the Batmobile.  The lighting is inconsistent,
imagine that!, but the photography makes great use of the water, water
that's everywhere.  There's also the slight problem of
overscoring--this is not a story that needs swelling strings.

BOTTOM LINE:  Though one can easily imagine a longer and more robust cut
              surfacing sometime in the future, the current version of   
              WATERWORLD is great eye-candy with just a little bit of 
              depth below the waves.
 
Grade: B-

-- 
Michael J. Legeros
Raleigh, NC
[email-masked]