Lukewarm 'Sahara' can't brave the heat
Based on a novel by Clive Cussler, this over-the-top film
falls short of blockbuster must see list
Blake Hinton / Reviewer
There is a certain genre of film that seems to have been
directly inspired by the movie "Indiana Jones". The
best way to describe this type of film is Indiana Jones-like.
These movies share all the characteristics of that
famous movie series. For example, we have extreme
plot-contrivances tempered by a sense of fun and good
humor. Also, there is the over-the-top action scenes which
don't make a whole lot of sense, but manage to get
away with it anyway. In the end, these films seem to be a
direct homage to early day action serials. Films like
"Romancing the Stone" used this formula best by
providing witty banter and great leads among exciting
and compelling derring-do. The new film Sahara sadly
falls in the mediocre slot thanks to a script that rebounds
back and forth between unexciting and occasionally useless.
The film is based on Clive Cussler's novel of the same.
The hero of the movie is Cussler's regular
character, Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) along with
Pitt's perpetual sidekick Al (Steve Zhan). Pitt is a
member of NUMA, which is a diving operation that is
connected with the Navy and dives for things. Pitt is
obsessed with finding a phantom ironclad ship from the
Civil War, which may hold a vast treasure. He finds new clues
and is given three days by his boss, played by William H.
Macy, to find the ship.
What was just described may sound like the main plot line
but that is a bit misleading. From the trailers one might
expect that this is the main story. Oddly this takes a back
seat and, in the end, never really has any great bearing on
the main plot.
The main plot line follows a doctor named Ava (Penelope
Cruz) working in Africa. Suddenly, she discovers that there
may be a plague that is starting to form. She eventually
meets up with Pitt and Al, and the three of them must stop an
evil businessman from possibly poisoning the entire world.
While this is not a completely terrible film there are a lot
of problems with the movie. The most notable one would be the
complete waste of the two plot lines. First, we have what
could have been an exciting adventure film, but that's
thrown out the window as the plot line is barely mentioned.
When it does make its appearance again late in the climax it
feels as if the screenwriter forgot about the phantom ship
and decided to hastily include it.
Therefore, the majority of the film is taken up by plot line
B. This is too bad as the storyline turns out to be seriously
lame. Much like any adventure film the story ends with the
three trying to save the world from destruction, but it's
odd how little impact or excitement the story has.
This might have been because it was poorly developed. One
has to wonder if the story would have been any better had
they cut out the completely useless plot A and decided to
simply make the movie concerning what it was really about.
Speaking of non-excitement, it's odd how unexciting a lot
of the film is. For at least two-thirds of this movie it
feels as if it is on auto-pilot. None of it really rises from
being standard and with such a skimpy plot line it
surprisingly takes forever for the movie to get anywhere.
Admittedly, some of the action scenes, which punctuate the
movie every 20 minutes or so, are decent but there is nothing
really memorable. The only time this film gets the least bit
exciting is probably in the last 20 minutes. It's as if
the screenwriter has decided to wake up and actually do
something with the climax. While the two action scenes that
make up the end of the film are preposterous they are at
least somewhat exciting. Too bad the same can't be said
for the rest of the unremarkable film.
Thankfully, the actors seem to be having fun making the
first two-thirds of the movie mediocre instead of
unwatchable. This is mostly thanks to Steve Zhan who can
frankly make any movie bearable. He basically does the same
comedic routine he does in every film, but it works here as
it does in every film he's in. Although, if one wants to
see his best performance go see "Joyride." Cruz and
McConaughey do fine and are enjoyable but nothing that
special.
This is not a terrible film. It's too unassuming and
good-natured to be truly bad. Also, it does have a thrilling
climax. Yet, there is nothing at all remarkable about this
movie. It's standard to the point of boredom most of the
time, hampered by a story that doesn't work at all. If
one wants to see a movie that overcomes plot contrivances
with a truly witty script and two great performances see
"Romancing the Stone."
Contact Blake Hinton at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247.
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