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This underwater action film by director John Stockwell was released in September of 2005,
and despite earning back only 90% of its $50-million dollar budget, a straight-to-DVD sequel was
commissioned anyway. Pretty boy Paul Walker stars as a beach bum in the Bahamas who dreams
of finding buried treasure under the ocean: but he unfortunately gets more than he bargained
for when he stumbled upon a crashed plane filled with ***... mere yards from a real
shipwreck
with real gold. Handsome and charismatic, Walker is very relatable in the lead, making
it easy to root for his success throughout. The PG-13 feature also stars the stunningly
beautiful Jessica Alba, who's acting isn't nearly as memorable as her perfectly shaped
*** in a tight thong bikini. I mean, I hate to objectify women, but I seriously think
a majority of the shots in this film were composed just so we could see her plump ***
swimming around. Scott Caan is the annoying guy-friend, who chides Walker into taking
unnecessary risks by saying, "Winners make the rules, and losers live by them." A devilish
Ashley Scott, and a cunning Josh Brolin round out the cast with mediocre, but serviceable
performances: most of which take place under the strikingly blue waters of the Caribbean
ocean. The 110-minute plot moves quickly enough, but the obstacles faced are frustratingly
contrived - it's just one bloated and unbelievable development after another preventing them
from simply picking up some artifacts in only 20-feet of water. Beginning as a light-hearted
story about ocean-dredgers, this well-paced adventure morphs into an exaggerated and overly
complicated tale involving drug-deals, kidnapping, blackmail, shark attacks, back-stabbing, violent
harpoon attacks, and one massive underwater explosion. Considering much of this picture
takes place beneath the waves, I was genuinely pleased at how well it was able to maintain
tension in the absence of dialogue... especially one scene where Caan is trapped on the sea-floor,
while inquisitive marine officers threaten the operation above. Paul Haslinger's score
helps ratchet the tension in these otherwise silent sequences, and generally, I enjoyed
this movie's fast and loose approach: it's the type of movie you'd catch on cable, and
end up enjoying more than you thought you would. With some beautiful visuals, and even
prettier women - this is a fun action movie, and little else. "Into The Blue", "Disposable
story, great underwater excitement."
My score on the rate-o-matic... a SIX. I'm not eager to re-watch this one, but it was
harmless entertainment that was never completely predictable for familiar, I thought it was
GOOD.