Midweek Mention... Waterworld

Notoriously troubled production WATERWORLD (1995) wasn't the Box Office flop it was portrayed to be upon release by a critical establishment gleefully surfing a wave of anti-Costner feeling but it's also not the misunderstood gem that revisionists positioned it as a few years later when the movie was reevaluated free from the shackles of it's initial reception.

Kevin Costner is The Mariner, a mutant who roams the seas of a drowned Earth and becomes the protector of Enola (Tina Marjorino), a young girl whose tramp stamp may hold the secret to finding dry land. Denis Hopper's maniacal "The Deacon" leads the villanous Smokers from the wreck of the Exxon Valdez and is a decent foil to Costner's stock stoically dull persona though not everyone agrees with that assessment, with Hopper winning the Worst Supporting Actor award at the 1995 Razzies and the film itself being nominated for Worst Picture, Actor and Director which seems a smidge unfair, especially when you consider Michael Bay's BAD BOYS was released the same year.

The stunts are all impressive and the set pieces are big and well designed albeit a bit bombastic for my personal taste but the movie is long and rambling and lacks world building, with a curiously small feel despite how impressive the sets are. Costner doesn’t quite have the charisma to carry off the man with no name but with gills vibe and the acquatic mutation itself barely features in the story in any meaningful way, either plot related or thematically, so they seem a weird digression without further explanation. A mixed bag which doesn’t withstand the inevitable comparisons to the superior MAD MAX franchise, but the glorious  4K UHD version currently showing on Amazon Prime makes this worth revisiting as an odd curio, and we’re all unanimously in favour of this being rebooted.

We love to hear from our listeners! By which I mean we tolerate it. If it hasn't been completely destroyed yet you can usually find us on twitter @dads_film, on Facebook Bad Dads Film Review, on email at [email protected] or on our website baddadsfilm.com.

Until next time, we remain...

Bad Dads