By: Keaton Marcus

DISCLAIMER: IF YOU ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 14, YOU SHOULD ASK YOUR PARENTS IF YOU ARE ALLOWED, IF THEY SAY NO…IT MEANS NO!

Did this Alien rip-off partly work? I mean could a William Eubank helmed underwater Ripley-type adventure actually be mildly successful? Well, Eubank's recent film Underwater is intermittently thrilling and benefits from some strong performances, despite its plot being largely derivative and it jumping the shark towards the end. The talented actress Kristen Stewart leads this project to a decent victory, although failing to go much beyond the familiar premise. This 95-minute horror-thriller infused with sci-fi elements may borrow off of similar projects, but that still doesn't quite stop it from packing some fun into the whole affair. Comparing this movie to Alien or Aliens would be like putting The Meg up against Jaws, you can't put them in the same league, but that doesn't mean that Underwater is without its own merits. Fans of the genre should find more than enough to satisfy, although moviegoers looking for another classic will absolutely detest this.

The film is about several researchers who go underwater on a deep-sea drilling investigation started by the company Tian. The six crew members are led by Norah (Stewart) who's station has a pressure breach and is destroyed, but she and Rodrigo (Mamoudou Athie) narrowly escape. The two find their way to another compound, meeting up with the Captain ( a wasted Vincent Cassel, but he still got money!), Paul (T.J. Miller with comic relief), Emily (Jessica Henwick) and Smith (John Gallagher Jr). The six now must find a possible way to get to the surface, but a lack of oxygen isn't all that's endangering their lives. Cue the aquatic Xenomorphs. Yeah, we've seen in this all before, whether it's in space or the deep depths of the ocean, but it's still entertaining.

Audiences won't be able to help to compare Kristen Stewart's performance negatively to Sigourney Weaver, but Stewart still leads with conviction. The visual effects are the stars of the show and the screenplay doesn't do wonders for Stewart's character, though the Twilight actress still brings confidence to the role. The supporting cast doesn't surprise, with Vincent Cassel here to pick up his paycheck, but they weren't exactly poor either. One character has to bring comic relief in a movie like this, and that role is T.J. Miller's Paul, who despite fighting controversy, still stands tall with laughs. Miller was a delight in 2016's superhero comedy Deadpool and plays another jokey character in this. What constantly happens in this movie is I got annoyed by the fact that I felt as claustrophobic as the characters, though Miller is always here to save the day.

The budget is around 65 million USD, much more than the common horror film though not as much as the 140 million spent on The Meg. The cost shows in the movie, however, and audiences should be impressed with the stylish direction by Eubank and the visual flair. That could possibly be enough to slightly outweigh the film's many flaws. What really drags this movie down is the ending, where the remainder of the crew goes up against this god awful giant sea creature. Sure, it may be nice to look at visually, but what started with a creature feature on a smaller-scale nearly turned into a Godzilla movie. Besides the embarrassing finish, there's still much to find with fans in this slickly made piece of derivative fun. I had a good time, and many other viewers will as well, just don't look for anything other than that.

The final opinion is: Underwater is mildly entertaining and visually slick, but it borrows off of too many other projects and doesn't bring enough fresh ideas to the table...$KIP IT

Box Office Info:

Opening Weekend: 7M

Domestic Total: 17.2M

Worldwide Total: 40.8M

Rent for $5.99 or Buy for $14.99 in SD and HD on Prime Video