the formula is simple . trap a varied group of people on an isolated location , then pop in a seemingly unstoppable monster to kill them one by one . these have been the successful ingredients for many good films ( the thing , alien , aliens , and tremors to name a few ) . so , why is it that so many films following this recipe end up pathetically bad ? ( see the relic for a particularly putrid example . ) perhaps it is simply too easy to forget the necessary binding ingredient : effort and ideas . deep rising meets these two requirements part way , but not enough to salvage the film . treat williams is finnegan , the leader of a small boat crew who hire out their services ( and their boat ) for any activity . . . no questions asked . this time , however , they may have gone too far . their passengers , led by the ominous wes studi , are the type of multi-national terrorist squads usually only seen in die hard films . and their cargo . . . let's just say it has very high explosive potential . what is the target of these thieves ? why , the argonauticus , of course , a high tech luxury cruise yacht on its maiden voyage . but something else is hunting the argonauticus . . . something ancient and deadly . by the time the thieves arrive , nearly everyone on board the ship has been killed . and now the creature senses fresh meat ! so , you have the thieves and their mercenary boat crew , joining forces with the surviving passengers ( including the ship owner canton ( anthony heald ) , and a thief with less lofty goals , trillian ( famke janssen ) ) against the terror from the deep . and the monster gets to pick them off one by one . fortunately for the creature , this particular band of criminals happens to be the dumbest the world can offer . why else would they indulge in petty squabbling while they watch their friends become fish food . if there's a more clarion call for unity , i don't know what it might be . <NEG> it's pretty easy to guess </NEG> who will get killed off when . <NEG> there are no surprises </NEG> in that the most interesting characters seem to last until the end . for the most part , the watery tentacles seem to be acting on the audience's impulses to get rid of the most boring characters first . ( although i wonder if the filmmakers might have extended djimon hounsou's life a bit if they knew this would be released so soon after his acclaim for amistad . ) treat williams is a passable hero , and famke janssen does her best julia roberts impersonation . but while wes studi and anthony heald are particularly slimy , very little of the rest of the company stand out in any way . the biggest treat in the film , however , has to be pantucci , kevin j . o'connor's whining engine-boy , under finnegan's employ . his constant quips may be a bit over-written , but they manage to capture the same vein of nerve-addled humor that bill paxton delivered as hudson in aliens ( or todd graff as hippie in the abyss , for that matter ) . it's just a stock part ( the comic-relief character ) , but it almost makes this tired alien clone bearable . as far as the monster goes , although the cgi is done well , the creature <NEG> has no logical consistency </NEG> . think back to the great ( or even just good ) movie monsters . they all had a set of " rules " about what they could do , and how and why they would do it . part of the joy of those films was slowly discovering , along with the heroes , just what those rules are . the tentacle monster in deep rising doesn't have a set of rules . . . or if it does , not a very good one . it merely eats ( or drinks , as the case may be ) , and there is no rhyme or reason for what it does in order to do so . the film never explains why the argonauticus is attacked in the first place . it simply happens . the action scenes are decent , but <NEG> few are noteworthy </NEG> . the film <NEG> definitely does suffer </NEG> from its proximity to titanic . deep rising's peril in the water scenes pale next to cameron's ( but can you really blame them ) . unfortunately , deep rising's efforts are more on par with speed 2 . on the plus side , however , the film's closing image shows some promise for a potentially interesting ( but unlikely ) sequel . perhaps you'd be better off waiting for that one .
