Peter Berg's Deepwater Horizon
In Deepwater Horizon we have a film that checks off all the boxes in preparing us for the inevitable shock and awe that almost literally explodes across the big screen. We have likable characters, unquestionable heroism, people trying to do their jobs, out-of-touch corporate executives who have no idea what they are doing, and a story that does BP Oil & Gas no favors.
In documenting the horrors of what took place on the evening of April 20, 2010, more than 40 miles off of the Louisiana Coast, director Peter Berg paints a picture of good, loyal workers caught in the crosshairs of bureaucracy, corporate meddling, and ultimately victims to an oil rig explosion which resulted in the deaths of 11 crew members and led to the largest oil spill and …show more content…
And from there, as Berg and his remarkable visual effects and sound design team show us, the ship was no match for the pressure that had been building up, as lights, infrastructure, equipment, and the very ship itself could not harbor any safe zones for anyone on …show more content…
Spectacle takes over substance and the film's biggest failure may simply be that we are left to observe the situation and are never invested enough with the characters to make any tangible personal connections. Think Titanic-level destruction and chaos, but no Jack or Rose for us to care about.
The exceptional technical, below-the-line mastery of Deepwater Horizon should find itself in the conversation for sound and visual effects awards come Oscar season. And while Berg may trot out the "Here are some nice people, now watch them suffer" motif for us to ponder and consider, the film never wants to be too much more than what it is: a celebration of American heroism in the face of a tragedy.
And we can (and probably should) chuckle when Berg crowbars in images of the American flag more than a half a dozen times against a backdrop of fire and despair. And he, Carnahan, and Sand seem to downplay the significant and unconscionable impact this tragedy had to the environment, opting instead to make us boo and hiss at some oil executive caricatures. And while we get to see some of these some bosses covered in oil, with the enormity of their incompetence washing over them, BP emerges with little more than a few light bruises with Berg's
In documenting the horrors of what took place on the evening of April 20, 2010, more than 40 miles off of the Louisiana Coast, director Peter Berg paints a picture of good, loyal workers caught in the crosshairs of bureaucracy, corporate meddling, and ultimately victims to an oil rig explosion which resulted in the deaths of 11 crew members and led to the largest oil spill and …show more content…
And from there, as Berg and his remarkable visual effects and sound design team show us, the ship was no match for the pressure that had been building up, as lights, infrastructure, equipment, and the very ship itself could not harbor any safe zones for anyone on …show more content…
Spectacle takes over substance and the film's biggest failure may simply be that we are left to observe the situation and are never invested enough with the characters to make any tangible personal connections. Think Titanic-level destruction and chaos, but no Jack or Rose for us to care about.
The exceptional technical, below-the-line mastery of Deepwater Horizon should find itself in the conversation for sound and visual effects awards come Oscar season. And while Berg may trot out the "Here are some nice people, now watch them suffer" motif for us to ponder and consider, the film never wants to be too much more than what it is: a celebration of American heroism in the face of a tragedy.
And we can (and probably should) chuckle when Berg crowbars in images of the American flag more than a half a dozen times against a backdrop of fire and despair. And he, Carnahan, and Sand seem to downplay the significant and unconscionable impact this tragedy had to the environment, opting instead to make us boo and hiss at some oil executive caricatures. And while we get to see some of these some bosses covered in oil, with the enormity of their incompetence washing over them, BP emerges with little more than a few light bruises with Berg's