Ghosts of the Abyss
2½ out of 5 stars
R E V I E W   B Y   R I C H   C L I N E
an immersive 3D adventure This is James Cameron's first film since 1997's Titanic ... and it's a documentary about the Titanic that indulges in his deep-sea diving fixation (see 1989's The Abyss). And watching the film you wonder if he's capable of moving on now. The main selling point here is his use of Imax 3D filmmaking to tell the story in documentary form, following a diving expedition to the bottom of the North Atlantic to explore the wreckage with the help of two tiny robotic subs (named Jake and Elwood). Besides the Russian ship's crew, he's accompanied by historians, scientists, biologists and an actor (Paxton), all combining to give a perceptive and intriguing running commentary on what they see and experience.

So far so good. The giant-format 3D imagery is intensely enveloping as we prowl around the ship, passing through tiny hatchways to explore staterooms and offices, seeing things no one has seen for 90 years. This is exquisite footage, focussing on the human side of things. And Cameron cleverly uses special effects to overlay photos and computer reconstructions over the ruins so we know what we're looking at. But he isn't about to stop there. No, for some reason he feels the need to actual dramatise things (as if he hadn't done that already!), having ghostly passengers strolling around the decks. This makes the whole thing unnecessarily corny, especially when combined with incessant gushing comments from the cast and crew (how many times can someone say, "Gosh, it's so amazing!"). It's frustrating that Cameron couldn't make a proper documentary, because the footage is astonishingly beautiful, the subject matter is compelling and the timing is eerily relevant. They were in the middle of the project on September 11th, 2001, and the visceral reaction to unthinkable tragedy helps us understand how the world must have felt in April 1912. This sequence gives us a glimpse at how good this film should have been.

cert U some themes 21.Mar.03

dir James Cameron
with Bill Paxton, James Cameron, Ken Marschall, Don Lynch, Charles Pellegrino, Lori Johnston, Mike Cameron, Lewis Abernathy, Tava Smiley
release US/UK 16.Apr.03
Disney
03/US 1h01

Explorers. Cameron and Paxton take a voyage to the bottom of the sea...
R E A D E R   R E V I E W S
send your review to Shadows... an immersive 3D adventure Still waiting for your comments ... don't be shy.
© 2003 by Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

HOME | AWARDS | NEWS | FESTIVAL | Q&A | ABOUT | TALKBACK