Deep Rising (1998) Review

Deep Rising (1998) Review

 

Some wise-cracking mariners are hired by a group of mercenaries to take them out to the middle of the South China Sea for reasons that are initially unclear, but when they come across a massive cruise liner on her maiden voyage, it’s revealed they have been tasked with looting it—and this ship caters only to the super rich. When they get aboard, though, it seems everyone has already been killed, but by what? The mystery is sustained for quite a while, and it’s not until almost halfway through the film that the characters discover a massive tentacle monster has found its way up from the depths and devoured nearly the entire population of the ship. The few surviving crew and last living passenger team up with the mercenaries and mariners, and they are all picked off one by one as they try to escape.

Stephen Sommers wrote and directed Deep Rising, and he used some familiar movie ingredients for his recipe. The recipe includes a big helping of Aliens, a scoop of The Abyss, a dollop of Jaws, a sprinkle of Ghost Ship, a drop of The Thing, a dash of Octopus, one cup of Tremors, and a hint of Predator. That makes it sound way more awesome than it is—it’s only better than two out of the eight movies I just name dropped—but it’s still a fun action horror film that mixes all those ingredients together just right.

The main thing that keeps Deep Rising from being a drag is the cast. These characters are nothing special, but they’re played by capable actors, and the dialogue is witty, sarcastic, and just plain fun. Treat Williams plays the main character Finnigan, captain of the ship the mercenaries hired, and it’s one of the best roles I’ve seen him in. Other stand-out cast members include Kevin J. O’Connor as Joey the mechanic (the mercs call him “the grease monkey”), and while his character is a little annoying, he still has some funny lines, and he’d go on to have his talents a little better utilized in later films by Sommers. There are also early career roles for Djimon Hounsou (who went on to the likes of Blood Diamond and Guardians of the Galaxy) and Cliff Curtis (10,000 B.C, The Meg), and Famke Janssen plays a main part, though almost wasn’t cast because she’d become so recognizable thanks to her role in Goldeneye a few years earlier.

It’s difficult to highlight examples of the dialogue because every scene has someone saying something snarky or goofy. Early on when the mercs are getting to know Finnigan and his crew, one of them comments that they thought he’d be older, to which Finnigan says he’s aging like a fine wine, then the merc says he looks more like a keg of beer. Lines like these give the film a sense of fun, but it doesn’t take away from the thrilling aspects. There’s one really cool scene where they go into a hallway on the cruise ship and find everyone turned to bloody, gooey skeletons, then the steel walls start crumpling like an aluminum can, which is a well-executed effect. Most of the effects are practical and look decent, but the cgi is dated, and the creature looks a little questionable. Somehow they get away with being conservative on showing the creature—it’s more about the big blockbuster spectacle action and destruction than the creature, anyway, but still doesn't forget that part either.

Overall, Deep Rising is one of those very amusing, dumb B-movies that was produced on a big R-rated scale, but leans into the cheesiness in the right ways. Stephen Sommers would go on to direct 1999’s The Mummy, the sequel The Mummy Returns, and Van Helsing, and while he brought similar sensibilities to those films, I think Deep Rising is actually the best thing he’s done. It has an interesting creature, lots of explosions, guns, one-liners, and an undeniable sense of fun.