Deepwater Horizon

Awesome spectacle. The opening 20-minute handheld camera shot, which looks like a semi-documentary about blokes on oil rigs, is perhaps even cooler than the occasionally slightly stereotypical and frenetically edited banging and destroying everything possible and impossible. Kurt Russel and Mark Wahlberg are both top-notch, in roles that fit them perfectly, so almost everyone will be rooting for them. A minimum of pathos and a decent portion of unadulterated emotions speak for Berg. I think this is a decent tribute to another catastrophe that affected millions of people. It’s not as precisely documentary-like as United 93 for instance, but it’s not nearly as pathetic as the likes of World Trade Center. (02/10/2016)

Another reason to cut down on driving your car. And I have to admit that I am really glad that this movie was made. Without embellishment, it shows absolutely precisely what interests BP had on the oil rig and how the company was willing to literally walk over dead bodies to achieve its interests. The film as such then quite intensely and relatively exactly depicts the disaster as if it had been filmed by Greengrass himself. Not only was the film expensive, but you can really see it was. And that’s despite the fact that sometimes it feels like the camera was attached to a merry-go-round or a rollercoaster. But that actually serves a point as well. It amplified the atmosphere in order to make the viewer think as if they were really on the rig with the rest of the actors. And there’s no doubt the authors managed to achieve that effect. I was as confused as a forest bee and the only thing that could put me to a similar level of confusion that Mark Wahlberg experienced on the screen was the series of explosions, which I could survive through a certain coincidence. The only reason I didn’t give the movie a five-star review was that there is not a single character the viewer could really identify with or root for and that’s despite the fact that Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and John Malkovich all put in absolutely excellent performances. Mark actually puts in a standard patriotic performance, whereas Kurt and John are trying to compete for the worst American accent and the best acting performance. And they both succeed. At the end, you get a smaller load of traditional American patriotism, which on the one hand is terribly obvious, but on the other hand, I actually don’t hold it against them. The afterword is pointless, but it’s necessary for American viewers. Other than that, it was great… or rather terribly sad. The more money we have, the more liberties we are ready to take with our mother Earth. The question is how much longer this can go on… (30/09/2016)

A catastrophic inferno that looks great. Peter Berg combined sweet sweeping camerawork and breathtaking explosions with a dignified memorial to the worker or his superiors who got killed or maimed for money, money, money. Criticism of contemporary corporate thinking isn’t really the crux of this movie, but, as we find out in the end, Malkovich is just the type of slippery bastard who is guilty on all counts, but who get away Scott-free. Carnahan’s targeted screenplay that concentrates on facts, Berg gives us the occasional visual gem: for instance, the shot of the American flag with the burning oil rig in the background, or the shot of Kate Hudson’s butt in panties (just hugging daddy Kurt), but the finale is a homage to all experts. Engineers, maintenance men, foremen, bosses who got their job on the basis of their experience and not from sitting on their asses. A very good job. I’m content. (06/10/2016)

A decent survival drama based on real events, featuring plenty of explosions, oil, and also good acting and a decent script. The first half has an easy pacing, we get to know the characters to get at least a glimpse of them, while the second half is a frantic ride for life, with no sparing of action and heroism. And in short, as is often the case, when people have to make a decision at some crucial moment, they unfortunately often make the wrong one, as evidenced by this film, which faithfully reconstructs the biggest oil disaster in US history. (01/09/2017)

The weakest Berg. The first hour is literally an ordeal to watch, I was flipping from side to side in boredom. A very unappealing plot that didn't interest me at all. Once something starts happening there is some decent action, but after 20 minutes it fizzles out again as the pathos sets in and boredom sets in again. No emotion, not very engaging, for me very dysfunctional and cold. Finished with problems. 50% (30/12/2016)