Waterworld (1995)

 

Often heralded as being Kevin Costner's massive ego project and mostly infamous due to the absolutely insane amount of money that was spent, people tend to overlook whether or not this film is worth a watch. 

It certainly is, even though it's not the best of its post-apocalyptic kind by a long shot, but there is plenty of enjoyment to be found here.

A few hundred years into the future and the polar icecaps have completely melted, thus the entire world is now ocean. Survival is tough and people barter whatever they can find and scrounge what little resources there are. Into all of this floats our nameless Mariner (Costner), a loner who occasionally ventures into human made atolls for supplies. A child is discovered with a back tattoo that supposedly points the way to Dry Land, a now mythical place that no one has ever seen, but the child has to come from there, as she draws trees and horses, things no other human has ever seen. 

When the atoll is attacked by the Smokers, the Mariner, a woman named Helen and Enola (the child) escape, but from then on they are pursued by the villainous Deacon (Dennis Hopper) and his Smokers. 

Will they find Dry Land? Will the gruff Mariner open up to his passengers? Will he defeat the Smokers singlehandedly? 

If you think this will not happen, you are sorely mistaken.

Not to put a finer point on it: this film has lots of flaws, it is true. Our hero is rather boring and the mutant angle doesn't amount to much (he has gills and webbed feet). A lot of the acting is uneven, contrasting Costner's underacting greatly with some massive overacting from several others which makes it all feel disjointed. The storyline is predictable to a T, not to mention the fact that supposedly no one in history has ever seen Dry Land, yet in a space of about two weeks more or less they discover it. 

Huh, I guess it wasn't so hard to find after all. Bunch of future wussies. 

The pacing can be a bit off at times and after a rousing action scene, it mostly grinds to a halt. Maybe this could have been helped with some snappier editing, but we'll never know. 

But there is good stuff here as well. The sets look amazing. Part of why the budget ballooned the way it did, is that Costner wanted everything built practically. The poor weather made it float away or destroyed the sets at times, but this all looks wonderful. Likewise, the action scenes are lots of fun and you can clearly follow what is going on. 

Sure, it's 'Mad Max' at sea, but in all fairness: what post-apocalyptic story has not borrowed heavily from 'The Road Warrior'? Truly. 

Yes, there is plenty of overacting, but the one who steals the show in every scene he's in, is Dennis Hopper. He is so out there as Deacon, but he is so funny all the time. I don't know if he was told to go in this direction, or if it was his manic nature that drove him to chew the scenery the way he does, but it is a blast watching him perform. If only Costner's character was half as engaging, that would have made for a much better final product. 

So yes, 'Waterworld' isn't a great film by a long stretch. But it is fun however and you can easily slip this in and escape for about two hours. And isn't that a nice idea sometimes?