Flood
Starring:
Robert
Carlyle, Jessalyn Gilsig, Tom Courtenay, Joanne Whalley
Running
time: 110 minutes
Year:
2007
Directed
By: Tony
Mitchell
Written
By: Justin
Bodle & Matthew Cope
Flood
seems to be the British version of a disaster movie. Lately we have seen movies
such as The Day After Tomorrow, 2012 and
to an extent Twister set themes of
destruction to our screens, all as well have failed to live up to their giant
budgets and huge use of special effects. Like I said Flood is the British version of these sorts of films but
unfortunately it is placed back in the Hollywood category as it is full of
special effects and fails to really add anything new to what we have already
seen.
The title of the film makes it obvious what it is
about. It begins with a storm surge wiping out a small town called Wick in the
North of Scotland. The Met Office begin to investigate this event and a local
professor, Leonard Morrison (Courtenay), discovers that the storm is heading
South and will hit the Thames Barrier at the same time as high tide, causing
mass volumes of water to flood into central London. The Deputy Prime Minister
must come to a decision of how to act and is helped by the evacuation leader
who is more concerned about the safety of her children then her job to protect
the millions that inhabit London. Robert Carlyle plays Leonard's son Rob, who
is an engineer on the Thames Barrier and manages to escape from it with his
ex-wife Sam (Gilsig) moments after the storm hits, leaving them both to swim
through London in search of safety. On their journey they come across other
survivors who are in search for safety in the London Underground. As the
Government attempt to purge the water from the capital, they must decide
whether or not it is worth risking millions more lives in order to do so.
Like I said the film is nothing original and it is
something we have all seen before in the Hollywood films just with different
landmarks being destroyed. The characters in the film never really seem
bothered by the fact that London is being hit with gallons and gallons of
water, and there is little urgency in the attempt to rescue it. What we have
are characters who are being read aloud from a script, and ones that would
never act in the way they do in the film. The acting in it is very poor and
people expect better from a man who once played a Bond villain. Carlyle brings
nothing to the role despite his high profile, and if anything seems to be
uninterested in his role. Makes you wonder why he even signed up for it in the
first place. Tom Courtenay however is even worse. He talks ridiculously slow
for no reason what so ever and his sudden flush of knowledge is really
unrealistic. The only one good bit of acting comes from a man who is sweeping
Hollywood at the minute, Tom Hardy. Here he has a very small role but manages
to steal the show in the small number of scenes he appears in. He shows just
why he is such a sought after actor at present.
From what I have read this film is also a miniseries
that is fleshed out for that sake and cut in order to gain a minimal theatrical
release. This is very noticeable as you watch the film as several scenes seem
cut short and lack any tension. One scene, which sees a group rushing through a
pipe as it fills with water, is cut short when it could have given us some high
tension as many of the main actors were in that pipe. Many of the action scenes
were cut short and most of the talking scenes discussing why the storm is hit
are far too long. The pacing of the film is all over the place and that can
only be down to the writing.
The characters seem to have back stories attempting
to break through but none of them ever really do. Again this could be because
of the fact that it is really a miniseries that has been pushed together. If
the characters were fleshed out more then they may have more connection with
the audience. The camera work and direction of the film is also very television
like and isn't suitable for a film, which again makes you wonder why it was
ever considered for a cinematic release.
The film is poor but I did started off enjoying it
and slowly lost interest half way through. A fleshed out miniseries would have
really worked for this as it is interesting seeing London engulfed in water,
and as to how we would react. As a film this did not work despite the strong
cast, the interesting idea, and the special effects, which at times are the
only good thing in this film. At least something good came out of it and that
is the brilliant Tom Hardy's flourishing career.
1.5
/ 5
Next film to review: THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS
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