Of course there is absolutely no reason for a remake of the 1972 "Poseidon Adventure" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069113/), because that film had all it needs to make a classic: ridiculous peril, close escapes, tacky characters, and Ernest Borgnine. Wolfgang Petersen’s "Poseidon" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409182/) has none of that, but Kurt Russell, which makes matters worse. The days are long over when Mr Russell was the coolest "call me Snake" asshole around, and I cannot really remember having seen anything of considerable esteem since. Wait, I will check IMDB… oh yes: "Big Trouble in Little China" will be the only other film from his Oeuvre to be remembered (I just realise he was quite busy, indeed, but most of these films have titles that sound strangely like straight-to-video…).
Anyway: the wave looks better than the one in "Perfect Storm", so the Petersen people are able to learn from their mistakes. Everything else is equally predictable and boring as in that other film ("Storm", not "Poseidon Adventure", of course), only that George Clooney (to his own benefit) is missing. There is a surprising share of the main characters dying between beginning and ending, which is quite satisfying, but the thing that I found really hard is to believe that the Kurt Russell character is a super-millionaire with a political career. He always just looks like some dude climbing out of his truck after an 8-hour shift behind the wheel… anyway, nice entertainment if you have seen all other blockbusters already. Unfortunately without the tacky and cheesy parts a true disaster classic requires.
Schnitt-Review (German): http://www.schnitt.de/filme/artikel/poseidon.shtml
Kermode: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/fivelive_aod.shtml?fivelive/kermode160905
Guardian overview: http://film.guardian.co.uk/Film_Page/0,,-112577,00.html
thomas4cinema 